The  Stronger  Influence 


The 

Stronger  Influence 

By 

F.  E.  Mills  Toung 

Author  oj  "Imprudence"  "The  Almonds  of  Life" 
"Beatrice  Ashleigh"  "Foreshadowed"  etc. 


New  SBJP  York 
George   H.  Doran   Company 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


Book  1 
The  Stronger  Influence 


AMONG  the  passengers  which  the  train  dis- 
goiged  on  to  the  little  platform  at  Coerney, 
the  station  from  which  visitors  to  the  Zuur- 
berg  proceeded  on  their  journey  up  the  steep 
mountain  road  by  cart,  were  an  elderly  woman 
and  her  husband ;  a  middle-aged  man,  who  was 
acquainted  but  not  otherwise  connected  with 
them ;  and  a  young  girl,  who  was  neither  con- 
nected nor  acquainted  with  any  of  her  fellow- 
travellers,  and  who,  after  the  first  cursory  glance 
towards  them,  evinced  no  further  curiosity  in 
their  movements,  but  walked  alone  across  the 
sunlit  space  to  where  in  the  shade  of  the  trees 
the  cart  waited  until  such  time  as  it  should 
please  the  driver  to  bring  up  his  horses  and 
inspan  them  in  preparation  for  the  long  drive  up 
the  mountain. 

The  girl's  three  fellow-travellers  had  gone  in 
quest  of  refreshment ;  the  driver  was  invisible  ; 
an  atmosphere  of  languorous  repose  brooded 


2139003 


The  Stronger  Influence 


over  the  place,  which,  with  the  departure  of  the 
train,  seemed  utterly  deserted,  given  over  to  the 
silences  and  the  hot  golden  light  of  the  afternoon 
sun. 

The  girl  approached  the  cart  with  no  thought 
of  taking  her  seat  therein  :  she  preferred  to  walk 
and  stretch  her  cramped  limbs ;  and  it  was 
obvious  that  the  cart  would  not  start  for  some 
while.  But  the  cart  stood  in  the  shade,  and 
the  day  was  hot :  the  girl  sought  the  shadows 
instinctively  and  nibbled  chocolate  while  she 
.scrolled  about  under  the  trees,  and  awaited 
developments. 

She  had  been  ill,  and  was  taking  a  holiday  to 
hasten  the  period  of  convalescence  so  that  she 
would  be  ready  to  resume  her  duties  as  a  teacher 
of  music  when  the  vacation  ended.  The  air 
of  the  Zuurberg  was  more  bracing  than  that 
of  the  Bay.  She  was  looking  forward  to  the 
change  with  pleasurable  anticipation ;  looking 
for  adventures,  as  girls  in  the  early  twenties  do 
look  for  the  development  of  unusual  and  exciting 
events.  Teaching  was  dull  work ;  routine  is 
always  dull ;  the  holiday  adventure  offers  pro- 
mise of  immense  distraction  when  one  sets  forth 
in  the  holiday  mood. 

Esme  Lester's  mood,  which  at  starting  had 
been  high  with  expectation,  was  a  little  damped. 
The  journey  in  the  train  had  tired  her  more  than 


'Ike  Stronger  Influence 


she  had  realized ;  and  the  appearance  of  her 
fellow-travellers — people  whom  she  would  meet 
daily,  be  under  the  same  roof  with — was  not 
calculated  to  excite  her  curiosity.  She  wanted 
companionship.  She  wanted  youth  about  her — 
not  the  immature  youth  with  which  her  work 
brought  her  into  daily  contact,  but  contempor- 
aries whose  thoughts  and  tastes  would  assimilate 
with  her  own.  The  nice  elderly  couple  who 
had  repaired  to  the  small  hotel  for  refreshment, 
and  the  rather  heavy  middle-aged  man  who  had 
followed  them  with  the  same  purpose  in  view, 
did  not  answer  her  requirement  in  any  sense. 
If  this  was  all  the  companionship  her  holiday 
promised  she  would  find  it  dull. 

At  the  end  of  half  an  hour,  during  which  time 
Esme  had  tired  of  wandering  and  had  seated 
herself  on  the  pole  of  the  cart,  she  saw  her  fellow- 
travellers  emerge  from  the  hotel  and  come  towards 
her,  and  in  the  distance  the  driver  appeared 
leading  two  of  his  horses,  followed  by  a  native 
with  the  second  pair. 

Esme  stood  up  and  showed  a  renewed  interest 
in  the  proceedings.  The  passengers  looked  on 
while  the  natives  inspanned  the  lean  reluctant 
team,  the  leader  of  which,  despite  a  sorry  appear- 
ance, showed  signs  of  temper,  which  caused  the 
elderly  woman  passenger  considerable  alarm.  She 
took  her  seat  in  the  back  between  her  husband 


8  The  Stronger  Influence 

and  Esme  ;  and  when,  after  the  start,  the  leader 
kicked  over  the  traces,  the  business  of  persuading 
her  to  remain  in  her  seat  occupied  all  the  hus- 
band's attention.  Esme  considered  his  patience 
wonderful.  The  driver  handed  the  reins  to  the 
middle-aged  man  and  got  down ;  and  after 
much  shouting  and  jerking  and  unbuckling  and 
rebuckling  matters  were  righted  and  the  journey 
resumed.  But  the  old  lady  was  nervous  and 
apprehensive  that  the  team  would  bolt.  The 
mountain  road  was  sufficiently  steep  to  have 
conveyed  to  any  reasonable  intelligence  the  im- 
probability of  this  mischance ;  but  fear  lends 
wings  to  reason,  and  the  old  lady  refused  to  be 
comforted. 

Panting  and  sweating  the  horses  laboured  up  the 
steep  incline  at  a  pace  that  was  steady  enough  to 
reassure  any  one  ;  but  the  further  they  proceeded 
along  the  winding  track  the  deeper  yawned  the 
precipice  at  the  side  of  the  road  :  it  fell  away 
sheer  in  places  till  it  lost  itself  in  the  black-green 
depths  of  the  gorge.  The  old  lady  was  so  posi- 
tive that  the  horses  would  plunge  over  the  preci- 
pice and  hurl  every  one  to  certain  death  that  she 
closed  her  eyes  in  preparation,  and  clung  to  her 
husband's  arm  in  the  determination  not  to  be 
separated  from  him  when  the  fatal  moment 
arrived. 

The  old  gentleman  smiled  whimsically  at  Esme* 


The  Stronger  Influence 


over  his  wife's  drooping  head.  The  girl,  feeling 
that  an  understanding  was  established,  returned 
the  smile,  and  then  gave  her  attention  to  the 
scenery,  which  was  new  to  her  and  which,  in  its 
wild  beauty,  with  the  tangle  of  trees  below  and 
the  green  luxuriance  of  the  mountain  road  reveal- 
ing ever  fresh  and  greater  beauties  the  higher 
they  climbed  it,  held  her  in  silent  wonder  at  the 
surprising  incongruities  of  this  great  country 
which  is  Africa  ;  a  country  of  amazing  contrasts, 
in  parts  a  tangle  of  luxuriant  vegetation,  in  other 
parts  sterile  and  savage  in  the  stark  nakedness 
of  the  land.  She  had  seen  something  of  its 
sterility,  not  much  ;  and,  save  for  a  brief  view 
of  the  Cape  Peninsular,  she  had  not  seen  a  great 
deal  of  its  beauty  either.  The  wild  green  splen- 
dour of  this  mountain  journey  she  found  restful 
and  pleasantly  stimulating.  The  air  was  cooler 
than  in  the  plains.  A  soft  wind  blew  furtively 
down  from  the  heights  and  met  them  as  they 
toiled  upward  in  the  hot  sunshine  behind  the 
panting  team.  The  horses'  sides  were  dark  and 
damp  with  sweat ;  foam  flecked  their  chests 
and  the  greasy  leather  of  the  loosened  reins. 
But  they  kept  doggedly  on.  They  were  used 
to  the  journey,  and  the  end  of  the  journey  pro- 
mised rest.  The  beat  of  their  hoofs  upon  the 
road,  the  rumbling  of  the  cart,  were  the  only 
sounds  to  disturb  the  stillness.  No  bird  winged 


io  The  Stronger  Influence 

its  flight  across  the  quivering  blue  ;  there  was 
no  song  of  bird  from  the  bush,  no  sign  of  any  life, 
save  for  a  number  of  grey  monkeys  which  infested 
the  trees  lower  down  :  these  were  left  behind 
as  the  cart  travelled  upward.  But  down  in  the 
black-green  depths  of  the  undergrowth,  moving 
noiselessly  and  unseen,  countless  insects  and 
reptiles  pursued  their  busy  way  ;  and  the  booms- 
laang  wound  its  heavy  brown  coils  around  the 
limbs  of  trees. 

Esme  leaned  back  against  the  hot  cushions 
of  the  cart  and  looked  about  her  with  quiet 
enjoyment.  Despite  fatigue  and  the  weariness 
behind  her  eyes  caused  by  the  hard  brightness 
of  the  day,  she  experienced  a  feeling  of  exhilara- 
tion. Every  sense  was  on  the  alert  to  note  and 
appreciate  each  fresh  beauty  along  the  rugged 
road.  The  scenery  became  tamer  as  the  ascent' 
was  neared.  Coarse  grass  and  stunted  bush  took 
the  place  of  the  massed  foliage  of  the  trees. 
The  land  at  the  summit  was  flat  and  shadeless. 
But  the  air  was  light  and  wonderfully  invigorating ; 
and  patches  of  green  showed  in  places  where  the 
land  dipped  abruptly  and  lost  itself  in  a  kloof, 
amid  a  tangle  of  vegetation  in  the  stony  bed  of 
a  mountain  stream. 

The  horses  took  a  fresh  spurt  when  the  level 
road  was  reached  and  trotted  briskly  towards 
the  hotel  and  drew  up  in  style  before  the  entrance. 


The  Stronger  Influence  IT 

Esme*  surveyed  the  low  rambling  building  with 
interested  eyes.  It  was  a  quaint  old-fashioned 
place,  this  hotel  on  the  veld,  one-storied,  with  a 
stoep  in  front  and  a  flight  of  low  steps  leading 
up  to  it.  The  garden  gate  stood  open,  and  a 
man,  who  was  possibly  the  proprietor  Esme 
decided,  waited  at  the  gate  to  receive  the  arri- 
vals. A  coloured  boy  came  out  to  help  with  the 
luggage. 

Esme  alighted  and  walked  up  the  garden  path, 
conscious  of  the  curious  gaze  of  a  little  knot  of 
people  gathered  on  the  stoep  to  participate  in  the 
great  excitement  of  the  day, — the  arrival  of  the 
cart  with  its  load  of  passengers.  The  hotel  was 
fairly  full;  there  were  men  and  women  on  the 
stoep  and  several  children.  The  girl  was  too  shy 
to  note  any  of  these  people  particularly  ;  she  took 
them  in  collectively  at  a  glance  and  passed  on 
and  went  inside.  A  woman  stepped  forward 
out  of  the  gloom  of  the  narrow  passage,  took  her 
name  and  conducted  her  to  her  room. 

Left  alone  in  her  room,  Esme  crossed  to  the 
open  window  and  stood  looking  out  upon  the 
wild  bit  of  garden  with  its  kei-apple  hedge  and 
the  small  vley  quite  close  to  the  window.  The 
glint  of  the  water  in  the  sunshine  was  pleasing 
to  watch.  That  the  water  would  breed  mos- 
quitoes, and  other  things  likely  to  disturb  one's 
repose  at  night,  did  not  trouble  her ;  she.  liked 


12  The  Stronger  Influence 

to  see  it.     It  stretched  cool  and  clear  as  a  mirror 
reflecting  the  blue  of  the  unclouded  sky. 

The  scene  from  the  window  was  peaceful  and 
pleasing.  The  whole  place  was  peaceful :  an 
atmosphere  of  drowsy  detachment  hung  over 
everything.  One  felt  out  of  the  world  here,  and 
at  the  same  time  intensely  alive.  A  sense  of 
well-being  and  of  contentment  came  to  the  girl 
while  she  knelt  before  the  window  with  her  arms 
on  the  low  sill,  looking  out  upon  the  unfamiliar 
scene.  She  had  come  to  this  isolated  spot  in 
search  of  health  ;  and  already  she  felt  invigor- 
ated by  the  fresh  pure  air ;  her  mind  worked 
more  clearly,  threw  off  its  morbid  lethargy  in 
newly  kindled  interest  in  everything  about  her. 
The  clean  homelike  simplicity  of  her  little  bedroom 
pleased  her ;  the  view  from  the  window  pleased 
her ;  it  was  expansive,  uncultivated — a  vast 
stretch  of  veld,  green  and  brown  in  the  glow  of 
the  declining  day,  with  the  azure  sky  overhead 
remotely  blue  as  a  sapphire  is  blue,  a  jewel  lit  with 
the  yellow  flame  of  the  sun. 


The  Stronger  Influence  II 

THE  dining-room  at  the  hotel  was  a  low, 
narrow  room,  rather  dark.  Its  French 
windows  opened  on  to  the  stoep,  which  was 
creeper  veiled  and  shaded  with  the  shrubs  in  the 
garden.  Down  the  centre  of  the  room  was  a 
long  table.  A  smaller  room  led  off  from  the 
principal  dining-room,  where  the  guests  with 
families  took  their  meals. 

Esme,  entering  later  than  the  rest,  found  a  seat 
at  the  principal  table  reserved  for  her.  On  her 
right  was  seated  the  old  gentleman  who  had 
been  her  fellow-traveller.  He  looked  up  when 
she  took  her  seat  and  spoke  to  her.  She  turned 
from  answering  him  and  took  quiet  observation 
while  she  leisurely  unfolded  her  napkin  of  the 
man  wrho  was  seated  on  her  left. 

He  was  a  man  of  about  twenty-eight,  tall  and 
broadly  built,  with  however  an  air  of  delicacy 
about  him  altogether  inconsistent  with  his 
physique.  He  was  round-shouldered,  and  his 
hands,  long  and  remarkably  white,  suggested 
that  their  owner  had  never  performed  any  hard 

13 


14  The  Stronger  Influence 

work  in  his  life.  His  face  was  altogether  striking, 
strong  and  fine,  with  clear  cut  features,  and  keen 
dominating  grey  eyes.  When  Esme  sat  down 
he  was  bending  forward  over  his  plate  and  did 
not  once  glance  in  her  direction.  He  seemed 
wholly  unaware  of  her  entrance,  unaware  of,  or 
indifferent  to  the  presence  of  any  one  in  the  room. 
He  confined  his  attention  to  his  food,  and  did  not 
talk,  or  evince  any  interest  in  the  talk  about  him. 

Esme,  while  she  looked  at  him,  was  keenly  alive 
to  the  fact  that  he  was  conscious  of  her  presence 
and  of  her  scrutiny,  though  he  chose  to  ignore 
both.  A  faint  colour  showed  in  his  face  and 
mounted  to  the  crisp  light  brown  hair,  which, 
cut  very  short,  had  a  tight  kink  in  it  as  though 
it  might  curl  were  it  allowed  to  grow.  She  liked 
the  look  of  this  man,  and,  oddly,  she  was  attracted 
rather  than  repelled  by  his  taciturn  and  unsoci- 
able manner.  Why  should  a  man  staying  at  a 
sanatorium  not  remain  aloof  if  he  wished  ?  The 
fact  of  being  under  the  same  roof  with  other 
people  should  not  of  itself  enforce  an  obligation 
to  be  sociable  when  one  inclines  towards  an  oppo- 
site mood.  Doubtless,  like  herself,  he  had  come 
to  the  Zuurberg  in  quest  of  health.  He  looked 
as  if  he  had  been  ill.  His  hand,  she  observed 
when  he  lifted  his  glass,  was  unsteady. 

She  watched  his  hands,  fascinated  and  puzzled. 
It  was  obvious  that  he  could  not  control  their 


The  Stronger  Influence  15 

shaking,  that  he  was  aware  of  this  shakiness  and 
was  embarrassed  by  it.  She  felt  intensely  sorry 
for  him.  She  also  felt  surprise  at  his  self -con- 
sciousness. She  noticed  that  he  ate  very  little. 
He  rose  before  the  sweets,  and  went  out  by  the 
window  and  seated  himself  on  the  stoep. 

Conversation  brightened  with  his  exit.  The 
people  near  her  seemed  in  Esme's  imagination 
to  relax  :  the  talk  flowed  more  freely.  Even  the 
old  gentleman  on  her  right  appeared  to  share  in 
the  general  relief :  he  turned  more  directly 
towards  her  and  entered  into  conversation.  While 
the  man  outside  sat  alone,  smoking  his  pipe, 
and  looking  into  the  shadows  as  the  dusk  drew 
closer  to  the  earth. 

With  the  finish  of  dinner  Esme"  walked  out 
on  to  the  stoep  with  the  purpose  of  going  for 
a  stroll  before  bedtime.  The  long  straight  road 
beyond  the  gate  looked  inviting  in  the  evening 
gloom.  She  would  have  welcomed  a  companion 
on  her  walk  ;  but,  save  for  her  fellow-travellers, 
she  knew  no  one  ;  and  her  fellow-travellers  showed 
no  desire  for  further  exercise. 

When  she  appeared  on  the  stoep  she  was  aware 
that  the  man  who  interested  her  so  tremendously 
looked  up  as  she  passed  close  to  him.  He  followed 
her  with  his  eyes  as  she  went  down  the  steps, 
down  the  short  path  to  the  gate,  through  the 
gate,  out  on  to  the  open  road.  But  he  did  not 


1 6  The  Stronger  Influence 

move.  Esme  was  conscious  of  his  gaze  though 
she  could  not  see  it ;  she  was  conscious  of  his 
interest.  The  certainty  that  she  had  caught  his 
attention  even  as  he  had  arrested  hers  pleased 
her.  A  restrained  excitement  gripped  her.  She 
laughed  softly  to  herself  as  she  stepped  into  the 
shadowed  road.  It  was  good  to  know  that  she 
left  some  one  behind  in  whom  she  had  provoked 
a  faint  curiosity  in  this  place  where  she  was  a 
stranger  and  alone.  He,  too,  was  alone.  She 
had  thought  when  she  passed  him  that  he  looked 
lonelier  than  any  one  she  had  ever  seen  or  imagined, 
seated  amid  a  crowd  of  people,  saying  nothing, 
doing  nothing  ;  sitting  still  and  solitary,  smoking 
and  looking  into  the  shadows. 

What  was  wrong  with  this  man,  she  wondered, 
that  he  should  remain  so  aloof  from  his  fellows. 
He  was  not  a  newcomer,  as  she  was  ;  he  had 
indeed,  though  she  did  not  know  this,  been  many 
months  at  the  hotel ;  yet  he  seldom  spoke  to 
any  one.  The  coming  and  going  of  visitors  was 
viewed  by  him  with  indifference.  They  were 
nothing  to  him,  these  people ;  he  was  less  than 
nothing  to  them.  Occasionally  some  man  came 
to  the  hotel  with  whom  he  entered  into  conversa- 
tion ;  but  more  often  people  came  and  went  and 
held  no  intercourse  with  him  at  all.  They  summed 
him  up  very  quickly  for  the  most  part ;  looked 
askance  at  him,  and  left  him  severely  alone. 


The  Stronger  Influence  17 

He  did  not  care.  It  pleased  him  to  remain  undis- 
turbed, and  the  general  disapproval  troubled  him 
very  little.  But  that  night  a  girl's  clear  eyes,  a 
girl's  sweet  serious  face,  got  between  him  and 
his  egotism,  got  between  his  vision  and  the 
shadowy  dusk,  and  mutely  asked  a  question  of 
him  :  "  What  was  he  making  of  life  ?  ' 

What  was  he  making  of  it  ?  What  was  he  giving 
in  return  for  the  gifts  which  he  received  ?  What 
was  he  doing,  what  had  he  ever  done,  to  justify 
his  existence  ?  Nothing. 

The  light  wind  carried  the  answer  on  the  dusky 
wings  of  night.  It  beat  into  his  consciousness 
and  stirred  him  out  of  his  easy  acquiescence 
in  things.  He  was  flotsam  on  the  sea  of  life — 
waste  matter  drifting  aimlessly,  to  be  finally 
ejected  and  flung,  spent  and  useless,  on  the  shore. 
Dust  which  returns  to  the  dust,  for  which  God  in 
His  inscrutable  reason  finds  some  use  which  eludes 
man's  understanding. 

Esme  Lester  walked  along  the  quiet  road  and 
thought  of  the  man  she  had  left  seated  alone  on 
the  stoep,  the  man  whom  she  believed  to  be  ill. 
And  the  man  sat  on  and  waited  for  her  return  and 
wondered  about  her  with  an  interest  which  equalled 
her  interest  in  him.  She  was  just  a  girl,  a  bright, 
sweet,  wholesome  young  thing,  who  had  happened 
along  as  the  other  guests  at  the  sanatorium  had 
happened  along,  and  who  would  vanish  again 


1 8  The  Stronger  Influence 

as  they  vanished,  leaving  him  seated  there  still 
to  watch  further  arrivals  and  departures  as  he 
had  done  for  many  weeks,  as  he  would  probably 
do  for  many  months.  He  had  never  seen  any  one 
until  this  girl  came  who  had  held  his  attention 
even  momentarily.  She  stood  out  from  these 
others,  some  one  apart  and  distinctive.  It  was 
not  merely  that  she  was  pretty ;  many  pretty 
women  came  there,  but  they  did  not  interest  him. 
There  was  something  vivid  and  arresting  about 
her,  some  elusive  quality  which  caught  his  fancy, 
and  which  he  could  not  define.  He  thought  she 
looked  sympathetic. 

When  Esme  returned  an  hour  later  he  was 
still  seated  on  the  stoep.  She  saw  his  figure 
against  the  lighted  doorway  at  his  back :  to  all 
appearance  he  had  not  moved  his  position  since 
she  had  passed  him  on  setting  forth.  But  the 
last  of  the  daylight  had  departed,  and  the  night 
was  dark  ;  there  was  no  moon  and  the  starlight 
was  obscured  by  a  mist  of  thin  clouds  which 
trailed  across  the  sky.  She  could  not  see  his  face 
clearly.  But  as  she  stepped  up  to  the  stoep 
the  light  from  the  passage  illumined  her  features 
and  revealed  her  fully  to  the  man's  gaze.  He 
watched  her  covertly  from  under  his  brows,  saw 
the  startled  look  in  her  eyes  as  they  caught 
the  artificial  light,  their  curious  bewildered  blink  as 
the  warm  glow  fell  on  her  face. 


The  Stronger  Influence  19 

Her  look  of  blank  surprise  amused  him.  It 
was  like  the  look  of  a  child  which  steps  abruptly 
into  the  light  out  of  darkness  and  finds  perplex- 
ity in  the  sudden  change. 

She  passed  him  and  went  inside  ;  and  it  seemed 
to  him  that  the  light  glowed  more  dimly,  that 
the  night  grew  darker  when  she  disappeared. 
He  rose  and  went  into  the  bar  and  remained  there, 
as  was  his  nightly  custom,  until  the  bar  closed, 
when  he  went  to  bed. 


The  Stronger  Influence  III 

THE  daylight  woke  Esme  early.  The  sun- 
beams found  their  way  through  the  open 
window  and  flashed  upon  her  face  and  startled 
her  from  sleep.  She  had  not  drawn  her  blind 
overnight ;  and  she  lay  still  for  a  while  and  looked 
at  the  golden  riot  without,  resting  comfortably, 
with  a  feeling  of  lazy  contentment  and  intense 
ease  of  mind  and  body.  The  sweet  freshness  of 
the  air  poured  over  her  in  health-giving  breaths. 
The  beauty  of  the  day,  the  brilliance  of  the  sun- 
shine called  her  to  go  out  into  it  and  enjoy  the 
morning  in  its  early  freshness. 

She  rose  and  dressed  and  opening  her  window 
wider,  put  her  foot  over  the  sill  and  dropped 
down  on  to  the  grass. 

The  heavy  dew  silvered  the  ground  and  sparkled 
like  diamonds  in  the  sunlight.  She  felt  exhila- 
rated, surprisingly  happy  and  glad  to  be  alive. 
No  one  seemed  to  be  abroad  at  that  hour  except 
herself.  The  hotel  presented  the  appearance  of 
a  house  in  which  the  inmates  are  all  asleep.  She 
went  through  the  garden,  past  the  low  hedge, 

20 


The  Stronger  Influence  21 

and  out  into  the  road.  The  road,  too,  looked 
deserted.  She  had  the  world  to  herself.  A  sense 
of  freedom  gripped  her.  She  was  not  conscious 
of  feeling  lonely  ;  the  sunshine  was  companionable, 
and  the  novelty  of  everything  held  her  attention 
and  kept  her  interest  on  the  alert. 

The  daylight  disclosed  all  which  the  night  had 
hidden  from  her  when  she  travelled  the  same 
road  on  the  previous  evening.  It  had  appeared 
then  a  land  of  shadows,  of  velvety  dark  under 
a  purple  sky ;  the  shadows  had  rolled  back,  and 
the  scene  revealed  wide  stretches  of  veld,  with 
here  and  there  a  clump  of  trees  or  low  bushes  to 
break  the  sameness  of  the  view.  The  veld  glowed 
with  an  intensity  of  colour  that  strove  with  a 
sort  of  hard  defiance  against  the  golden  light  of 
the  sun.  The  sense  of  space,  of  solitude,  was 
bewildering  in  this  vast  picture  of  sun-drenched 
open  country,  where  no  sound  disturbed  the 
silence  save  the  muffled  tread  of  her  own  foot- 
steps in  the  powdery  dust  of  the  road. 

She  broke  into  a  little  song  as  she  walked 
briskly  forward,  but  checked  the  song  almost 
instantly  because  the  sound  of  her  own  voice 
struck  intrusively  on  the  surrounding  quiet : 
the  note  of  a  bird  would  have  sounded  intrusive 
even  here,  where  the  silence  of  forgetfulness 
seemed  to  have  fallen  upon  the  land. 

A  tiny   breath  of  wind   came   sighing   across 


22  The  Stronger  Influence 

the  veld ;  the  girl  lifted  her  face  to  meet  it,  and 
her  eyes  smiled.  This  was  the  cradle  of  the 
wind ;  here  it  had  its  source  upon  the  mount ain. 
She  loved  the  wind  as  she  loved  the  sunlight ; 
she  loved  the  warmth  and  the  crudely  brilliant 
colour,  the  untempered  heat  of  this  land  of  eternal 
sunshine,  of  vast  spaces,  and  fierce  and  splendid 
life.  She  loved,  too,  the  dark-skinned  people  of 
the  country ;  loved  them  for  their  happy  dis- 
positions and  the  childlike  simplicity  of  their 
natures. 

Further  along  the  road  a  Kaffir  woman  passed 
her  with  a  tiny  black  baby  slung  in  a  shawl, 
native  fashion,  on  her  back.  Esme  stopped  to 
admire  the  baby,  and  touched  its  soft  dark  skin 
with  her  finger.  The  native  woman  and  the 
English  girl  spoke  hi  tongues  incomprehensible 
to  one  another  ;  but  the  language  of  baby  worship 
is  universal ;  and  the  Kaffir  mother  smiled  appre- 
ciatively, pleased  at  the  notice  taken  of  her  babe. 
She  went  on  her  way  with  the  light  of  the  sun  in 
her  eyes,  which  met  its  fierceness  as  the  eyes  of 
the  animals  meet  the  sun,  unblinking  and  without 
inconvenience.  Esme  looked  after  her  and  admired 
her  free  graceful  walk,  the  upright  poise  of  her 
head.  The  people  who  live  in  the  sun  show  a 
superb  indifference  to  its  power. 

With  the  disappearance  of  the  native  woman 
a  sudden  feeling  of  loneliness  came  over  her, 


The  Stronger  Influence  23 

stayed  with  her,  despite  the  brightness  of  the 
day  and  the  sense  of  returning  health  which 
came  to  her  in  the  wonderful  lightness  and  purity 
of  the  air.  She  walked  a  little  further,  to  where 
a  curve  in  the  road  brought  her  to  a  belt  of  trees 
which  threw  a  pleasing  shade  across  the  path. 
She  halted  in  the  shade  and  looked  about  her 
with  inquiring  gaze. 

It  was  very  beautiful  here,  and  restful,  and  the 
air  was  fragrant  with  the  pungent  scent  of  the 
mimosa  blossoms.  She  gathered  a  branch  of  the 
flowers  and  thrust  some  of  them  in  her  belt. 
Looking  upward  at  the  road  she  had  travelled 
she  saw  that  the  descent  was  greater  than  she 
had  imagined ;  the  return  would  necessitate  a 
steady  climb. 

She  rested  for  a  while,  leaning  against  one  of 
the  trees,  idly  watching  the  play  of  sunlight 
through  the  branches.  The  shadows  of  the  trees 
lay  along  the  road  in  grotesque  shapes.  The 
brooding  stillness  of  the  day,  the  brightness  and 
the  warmth,  were  soothing :  but  the  feeling  of 
loneliness  deepened  ;  there  was  something  a  little 
awe-inspiring  in  the  general  hush.  And  then, 
with  an  abruptness  that  startled  her,  a  sound 
struck  upon  her  ears,  a  sound  that  was  not  loud 
but  which  was  curiously  audible  in  the  silence. 
It  was  the  sound  of  footsteps  crunching  upon 
the  road.  The  figure  of  a  man  appeared  round 


24  'The  Stronger  Influence 

the  bend  and  came  on  quickly,  his  footstep  beating 
in  measured  muffled  rhythm  in  the  dust.  He 
was  quite  close  to  her  before  he  saw  her ;  when 
he  caught  sight  of  her  he  hesitated  for  a  second ; 
it  looked  as  though  he  contemplated  beating  a 
retreat.  Then,  coming  apparently  to  a  decision, 
he  walked  on.  When  he  was  abreast  of  her  he 
raised  his  hat. 

Esme  regarded  him  curiously.  It  was  the  man 
whose  seat  was  next  hers  at  table,  the  man  whose 
personality  had  arrested  her  attention,  in  whom 
she  felt  unaccountably  interested.  He  carried  a 
stick,  which  he  used  occasionally  to  walk  with 
and  more  frequently  to  strike  with  at  the  grass 
which  bordered  the  roadside.  He  carried  it  as  a 
man  carries  something  from  which  he  derives  a 
sense  of  companionship.  It  was  all  the  com- 
panionship he  ever  had  upon  his  walks. 

"  Good  morning/'  the  girl  said  in  response  to 
his  mute  salutation  ;  and  added,  after  a  barely 
perceptible  pause :  "  It  is  glorious,  the  air  up 
here." 

"  Yes/'  he  said,  and  halted  irresolutely. 

She  believed  that  he  resented,  not  only  her 
speaking  to  him,  but  her  presence  there.  He 
resented  neither ;  but  he  felt  averse  from  begin- 
ning an  acquaintance  which,  once  started,  it 
would  be  impossible  to  draw  back  from,  and 
which  he  foresaw  might  develop  into  something 


The  Stronger  Influence  25 

of  very  deep  significance.  Instinctively  he  feared 
this  acquaintance.  But  courtesy  demanded  some 
response  from  him  ;  he  made  it  reluctantly  and 
in  a  manner  which  did  not  encourage  her  to 
persevere. 

"  You  are  an  early  riser,"  he  said.  "  Usually 
at  this  hour  I  have  the  day  to  myself." 

Again  it  seemed  to  her  that  he  looked  on  her 
presence  as  an  intrusion,  that  he  preferred  to 
take  his  rambles  without  the  thought  of  encounter- 
ing any  one.  An  emotion  that  was  a  mixture  of 
impatience  and  anger  seized  her  at  his  selfishness. 
'  There  is  room  for  both  of  us,"  she  said  with 
a  touch  of  scorn  in  her  voice.  "  And  we  travel 
in  opposite  directions." 

The  man's  features  relaxed  in  a  smile,  the  first 
she  had  seen  cross  his  face,  an  involuntary,  whim- 
sical smile.  A  gleam  of  understanding  lit  his 
eye. 

"  Yes,"  he  allowed  briefly,  and  lifted  his  hat 
again,  and  walked  on,  leaving  the  girl  with  the 
feeling  of  having  suffered  a  snub. 

She  looked  after  him,  as  he  went  on,  still  hitting 
aimlessly  at  the  grass  with  his  thick  stick  as  he 
walked,  until  he  rounded  the  bend  and  disappeared 
from  her  view.  Then,  dispirited  and  out  of 
humour  with  the  day,  she  left  the  shade  of  the 
trees  and  took  her  way  upward  and  returned  to 
the  hotel- 


26  The  Stronger  Influence 

At  breakfast  she  saw  the  man  again.  He  came 
in  late,  and  dropped  into  his  seat  beside  her  with 
an  air  of  weariness,  as  though  he  had  walked  far 
and  was  tired.  She  did  not  look  at  him  ;  but 
she  felt  his  gaze  on  her  when  he  came  behind  her 
chair  and  drew  his  own  chair  back  from  the  table. 
When  he  sat  down  he  glanced  at  her  deliberately. 
She  went  on  with  her  breakfast  and  ignored  his 
presence.  Later,  this  struck  her  as  unkind  and 
somewhat  childish.  But  it  was  not  possible  to 
make  amends  ;  the  opportunity  was  past. 

He  sat,  as  he  always  sat  at  table,  with  his 
head  bent  over  his  plate  in  complete  disregard  of 
every  one.  But  the  presence  of  the  girl  beside 
him,  her  partly  averted  face,  the  nearness  of  a 
projecting  elbow  with  its  white,  prettily  rounded 
arm,  forced  themselves  on  his  notice,  made  him 
intensely  self-conscious.  He  put  out  a  hand  for 
the  glass  of  milk  and  soda  which  stood  beside 
his  plate  and  lifted  it  unsteadily.  The  sight  of 
his  own  shaking  hand  unnerved  him,  made  him 
horribly  and  painfully  alive  to  this  ugly  physical 
defect.  Impatiently  he  jerked  his  arm  upward; 
the  glass  tilted  and  the  contents  foamed  over, 
ran  down  the  cloth  and  on  to  the  girl's  skirt. 
He  fumbled  awkwardly,  almost  dropped  the  glass 
in  his  agitation,  righted  it  clumsily  and  turned, 
napkin  in  hand,  his  face  crimson,  and  began  to 
sop  up  the  liquid. 


The  Stronger  Influence  27 

"  I'm  awfully  sorry/'  he  mumbled.  "  I  can't 
think  how  I  came  to  do  that.  I'm  sorry." 

Esme  turned  quietly  and  watched  him  while 
with  increasing  embarrassment  he  timidly  wiped 
her  dress.  In  pity  for  him  she  put  out  a  hand 
and  took  the  napkin  from  him. 

"  Don't  trouble,"  she  said.  "It's  nothing 
really." 

"  I've  spoilt  your  dress,"  he  said. 

"  Oh  !  no.  It's  a  frock  on  friendly  terms  with 
the  wash-tub.  That  will  be  all  right." 

"It's  kind  of  you  to  make  light  of  it,"  he  said. 
"  But  I'm  ashamed  of  my  clumsiness." 

She  felt  intensely  sorry  for  him  as  he  turned 
again  to  his  breakfast  and  resumed  eating  with 
a  sort  of  uncomfortable  shyness  that  was  painful 
to  witness.  His  hands,  she  noticed,  shook  more 
than  usual.  He  did  not  attempt  to  lift  his  glass 
again,  though  it  had  been  placed  refilled  before 
him  ;  he  was  physically  incapable  of  making  the 
effort.  Out  of  consideration  for  him  she  did  not 
address  him  again,  but  finished  her  breakfast 
quickly  and  got  up  silently  and  left  the  room. 

She  went  down  the  passage  and  into  her  own 
room  and  changed  into  a  clean  frock.  It  was  her 
smartest  dress  which  had  been  soiled.  She  took 
it  off  with  a  sorry  little  smile  at  the  pang  which 
it  cost  her  vanity  to  have  to  lay  it  aside.  But 
her  earlier  resentment  against  the  man  whose 


28  The  Stronger  Influence 

clumsiness  had  caused  the  mishap  gave  place  to 
a  deep  compassion  when  she  recalled  the  confused 
crimson  of  his  face  and  the  fierce  yet  diffident 
embarrassment  in  his  eyes.  She  was  sorry  for 
him  without  understanding  why  she  should  feel 
pity  for  a  man  who  made  no  appeal  to  her  sym- 
pathy. His  solitary  condition  was  the  result  of 
his  deliberate  choice.  When  a  man  shuns  the 
society  of  his  fellows  the  fault  lies  within  himself. 
But  the  look  in  his  eyes  continued  to  distress 
her.  She  resolved  that  when  next  she  encountered 
him  she  would  make  him  talk  to  her. 


The  Stronger  Influence  IV 

DURING  the  morning  Esme*  played  tennis 
with  two  girls  and  a  man  who  were  staying 
at  the  hotel.  The  tennis  court  was  rough,  and  a 
rope  stretched  across  it  did  service  for  a  net. 
But  the  tennis  players  had  brought  balls  and 
racquets  with  them,  and,  these  being  good,  the 
defects  of  the  ground  were  regarded  good-naturedly 
as  part  of  the  fun. 

The  girls  were  about  Esme's  own  age ;  the 
man,  a  little  older,  paid  marked  attention  to 
Miss  Lester.  She  introduced  an  element  of  new 
life  into  the  place,  and  the  attractions  of  the 
Zuurberg  were  beginning  to  pall.  There  was 
nothing  for  a  man  to  do,  he  explained  as  they 
strolled  back  together  towards  lunch  time. 

"  But  it  is  pleasant,"  the  girl  said,  "to  do 
nothing  when  one  is  having  a  holiday.  It  is 
very  beautiful  here." 

He  offered  to  show  her  some  good  walks  in  the 
neighbourhood,  and  put  himself  very  much  at  her 
disposal  for  the  remainder  of  his  stay.  It  trans- 
pired that  he  was  leaving  at  the  end  of  the  week. 

29 


30  The  Stronger  Influence 

"  There  are  some  beautiful  spots  to  be  enjoyed 
at  the  expense  of  a  little  climbing,"  he  said. 
"I'll  show  you  if  you  care  about  it.  There's 
a  kloof  within  walkable  distance  that  well  repays 
the  effort.  They  found  the  spoor  of  a  couple  of 
tigers  there  about  a  month  ago.  It's  the  sort  of 
place  one  can  imagine  wild  beasts  prowling  about 
in — a  tangle  of  undergrowth,  with  the  moss 
hanging  in  long  green  ribbons  from  the  dead 
branches  of  trees.  The  ferns  growing  in  the  water 
are  a  sight." 

"  It  sounds  exciting,"  Esme  said.  "  But  I'm 
not  keenly  anxious  to  meet  wild  beasts." 

"  No  great  likelihood  of  that,"  he  returned. 
"  They  are  no  more  keen  than  you  are  for  an 
encounter.  I  wish  you  would  let  me  take  you 
there  to-morrow.  We  could  start  after  lunch. 
It's  the  coolest  spot  in  which  to  spend  a  hot  after- 
noon. But  you  mustn't  play  tennis  beforehand  : 
it's  quite  a  good  stretch.  Will  you  come  ?  ' 

Looking  up  to  answer  in  the  affirmative,  she 
became  aware  as  they  approached  the  stoep  of 
the  presence  in  his  customary  seat  near  the  en- 
trance of  the  man  who  excited  her  curiosity  and 
her  sympathy  in  equal  degrees. 

"  Who  is  that  ?  '    she  asked  her  companion. 

He  glanced  towards  the  object  of  her  inquiry ; 
and  instantly  on  perceiving  the  expression  in  his 
eyes  she  regretted  having  asked  the  question. 


The  Stronger  Influence  31 

"  That !  Oh  !  that's  Hallam— an  awful  rotter. 
Drinks  like  a  fish.  I've  not  seen  him  drunk,  but 
I  believe  he  never  goes  to  bed  sober." 

"  I  wish  you  hadn't  told  me  that,"  she  said  in 
a  voice  that  was  blank  with  disappointment. 

He  stared  at  her  in  surprise  and  changed  colour 
slightly  as  a  man  might  do  who  is  conscious  of 
being  rebuked. 

"  Perhaps  I  should  have  left  you  to  discover 
it  for  yourself,"  he  replied.  "  But  it's  common 
knowledge.  He  doesn't  trouble  to  conceal  the 
weakness.  The  odd  part  of  it  is  I  have  never 
seen  him  drink  anything  stronger  than  milk  and 
soda.  But  the  thing  is  obvious  enough.  He 
soaks.  I  don't  suppose  there  are  two  people  in 
the  hotel  with  whom  he  troubles  to  exchange  a 
remark." 

This  speech  let  in  a  big  ray  of  light  upon  her 
understanding.  It  became  abruptly  as  clear  as 
the  daylight  why  this  man  shrunk  from  inter- 
course with  every  one,  why  he  had  seemed  to 
shun  her  society,  to  almost  resent  her  attempts 
to  converse.  She  wondered  whether  her  new 
acquaintance,  whose  name  was  Sinclair,  had 
noticed  the  incident  at  the  breakfast-table  and 
deliberately  offered  this  information  with  the 
purpose  of  putting  her  on  her  guard.  If  this 
were  the  case  she  determined  to  show  him  that 
she  did  not  need  advice. 


32  The  Stronger  Influence 

She  walked  on  in  silence,  and  stepped  on  to 
the  stoep  alone,  and  paused  beside  the  chair 
of  the  man  whom  they  had  been  discussing 
and  smiled  down  at  him.  He  gazed  back  at 
her,  surprise  and  uncertainty  struggling  in  his 
look. 

"  I'm  so  hot,"  she  said.  '  We've  been  playing 
tennis.  You  look  cool  sitting  there." 

He  rose  awkwardly  to  his  feet,  and  stood  with 
his  hand  resting  on  the  back  of  the  chair,  and 
regarded  her  steadily. 

"It  is  cool  here,"  he  said.  "  Take  my  seat. 
You  have  done  more  to  earn  the  right  to  it  than 
I  have." 

"  Thank  you,  no.  It's  a  shame  to  disturb  you. 
I'm  going  inside  to  change." 

"  That's  the  second  change  this  morning,"  he 
said,  his  eyes  on  her  face. 

She  laughed  brightly. 

"It's  something  to  do,"  she  replied. 

"  Yes,"  he  said. 

The  old  reserve  settled  upon  him  once  more. 
She  noticed  that  he  looked  hesitatingly  from  her 
to  the  wicker  chair  beside  which  he  stood,  looked 
from  it  almost  furtively  towards  the  entrance. 
She  believed  that  he  purposed  retreat,  and  fore- 
stalled him  by  turning  away  with  a  little  friendly 
smile  and  going  within  herself. 

He  did  not  look  after  her.    There  were  people 


The  Stronger  Influence  33 

present  on  the  stoep  :  he  knew  very  certainly, 
without  glancing  in  their  direction,  the  interest 
they  were  taking  in  the  little  scene.  That  they 
had  observed  the  girl's  action  in  stopping  to 
speak  to  him,  that,  with  her  departure,  they 
continued  their  observation  of  himself,  he  knew 
instinctively.  Their  curiosity  was  a  matter  of 
indifference  to  him. 

But  the  girl's  insistent  friendliness  troubled 
him.  He  sat  down  again  heavily  in  his  seat  and 
reflected  deeply,  sitting  with  his  elbow  on  the 
arm  of  the  chair  and  his  chin  sunk  on  his  hands. 
The  gong  sounded  for  luncheon,  but  he  remained 
where  he  was  and  watched  the  rest  go  in,  and 
listened  to  the  talk  and  laughter  which  came  to 
his  ears  through  the  open  windows,  until,  after  a 
while,  the  lunchers  came  out  again,  when  he  got 
up  quietly  and  went  inside. 

Esme,  passing  the  open  windows  later  on  her 
way  into  the  garden,  saw  the  man  seated  alone 
at  the  table  in  the  deserted  room,  eating  in  solitary 
discomfort,  while  the  coloured  servant  cleared  the 
table  in  a  manner  of  sulky  protest  against  this 
belated  service.  She  quickened  her  steps  and 
her  face  flushed  warmly.  She  felt  as  though  she 
had  had  her  ears  boxed.  Indignant  and  angry, 
she  walked  as  far  as  the  vley  and  seated  herself 
in  the  shade  of  the  trees  with  a  book,  which  she 
did  not  read,  open  on  her  lap.  She  could  not  at 

3 


34  The  Stronger  Influence 

the  moment  concentrate  her  attention  on  reading. 
Her  cheeks  burned.  Twice  this  man  had  seemed 
to  snub  her,  whether  intentionally  or  not  she 
could  not  determine ;  but  she  felt  furious,  less 
with  the  man  than  with  herself  for  courting  a 
repulse  by  her  persistence.  Why  should  she  seek 
to  thrust  her  society  on  him  when  very  clearly  he 
did  not  desire  it  ?  Her  importunity  embarrassed 
him.  That  thought  rankled.  In  a  desire  to  be 
kind  to  a  man  whose  lonely  condition  excited  her 
compassion  she  had  been  guilty  of  intruding 
unwarrantably  upon  his  seclusion.  What  right 
had  she  to  force  her  acquaintance  upon  him  ? 
She  had  had  her  lesson  ;  she  would  profit  by  it 
and  not  repeat  the  blunder. 

Idly  she  turned  the  pages  of  her  book ;  but 
the  printed  matter  upon  which  her  eyes  rested 
conveyed  no  meaning  to  her  :  between  her  vision 
and  the  open  page  a  man's  face  obtruded  itself, 
a  face  with  fine,  strongly  marked  features,  and 
keen,  unsmiling  eyes.  She  could  not  switch  her 
thoughts  off  this  man,  in  whom,  she  realized  with 
a  sort  of  impatience,  she  was  more  than  ordinarily 
interested.  He  piqued  her  curiosity. 

Oddly,  the  ugly  fact  which  she  had  learned 
concerning  him  had  not  repelled  her  so  much  as 
deepened  her  sympathy.  She  wondered  about 
him ;  wondered  what  his  life  had  been,  what 
had  made  him,  still  a  young  man,  derelict  and 


The  Stronger  Influence  35 

at  enmity  with  his  fellows.  He  had  possibly 
suffered  a  great  sorrow,  she  decided  ;  and,  woman- 
like, longed  to  know  the  nature  of  the  tragedy 
which  had  spoilt  his  life. 

That  his  weakness  awoke  pity  and  not  repug- 
nance in  her,  filled  her  with  a  vague  surprise. 
She  knew  that  in  another  man  she  would  have 
considered  the  weakness  contemptible.  Why 
should  she  except  this  man  from  censure  in  her 
thoughts  when  she  would  have  held  another 
unworthy  for  the  same  failing  ?  A  person  who 
drank  to  excess  had  always  seemed  horrible  to 
her.  She  would  have  shrunk  in  fear  from  a 
drunken  man.  But  she  felt  no  shrinking  from 
this  man  :  she  felt  an  almost  motherly  tenderness 
for  him.  She  would  have  liked  to  help  him — 
with  sympathy,  with  her  friendship ;  and  the 
only  kindness  she  could  do  him  was  to  humour 
his  misanthropy  and  leave  him  to  himself. 

When  she  passed  him  again  on  her  return  at 
the  tea  hour  she  took  no  notice  of  him,  but  walked 
along  the  stoep  with  an  air  of  not  seeing  him, 
and  yet  with  a  mind  so  intent  on  him  that  a 
consciousness  of  this  penetrated  his  understand- 
ing, possibly  because  he  in  his  turn  was  thinking 
about  her  with  a  curiosity  equal  to  her  own,  with 
an  interest  which  surpassed  hers. 

He  followed  her  with  his  glance  until  she  reached 
the  open  window  of  the  dining-room  and  dis- 


36  Tht  Stronger  Influence 

appeared  within.  He  did  not  move.  Tea  was 
a  meal  he  never  attended ;  he  did  not  drink  tea. 
When  Esm6  came  out  again  on  to  the  stoep  his 
chair  was  empty. 


The  Stronger  Influence 


THE  frankness  of  Esme's  nature  was  opposed 
to  the  role  of  dignified  silence,  which  she 
assumed  deliberately  out  of  consideration  for 
the  man  who  had  shown  so  plainly  his  objection 
to  social  amenities.  She  was  resolved  that  unless 
he  spoke  to  her  she  would  not  address  him  again. 

The  event  of  his  venturing  on  a  spontaneous 
remark  was  so  improbable  that  it  seemed  unlikely 
that  the  silence  between  them  would  be  broken. 
To  sit  daily  at  meals  beside  a  person  with  whom 
the  exchange  of  the  ordinary  commonplace  is 
denied  becomes  embarrassing.  His  silent  pres- 
ence caused  her  to  feel  uncomfortable  and  un- 
happy. Had  it  been  possible  to  do  so  without 
exciting  remark  she  would  have  changed  her 
seat. 

Her  old  friend  on  her  right  helped  her  largely 
in  this  difficulty.  He  made  himself  particularly 
agreeable  to  his  young  companion.  But  his 
conversational  efforts  rendered  the  other  man's 
silence  more  marked ;  and  the  awkwardness  of 
sitting  down  to  breakfast  without  offering  a 

37 


38  The  Stronger  Influence 

friendly  good-morning  appalled  her  in  view  of 
the  many  breakfasts  which  must  follow  with 
increasing  strain  each  morning  during  her  stay. 

The  point  which  troubled  her  most  in  regard 
to  her  new  line  of  conduct  was  the  certainty 
that  the  man  who  had  furnished  her  with  the 
gratuitous  information  concerning  Hallam  would 
conclude  that  the  frozen  alteration  in  her  de- 
meanour was  the  result  of  his  unsought  confidence. 
Absurdly,  she  wanted  him  to  know  that  this 
breaking  off  of  all  intercourse  was  on  Hallam' s 
initiative  and  not  hers.  It  was  a  little  thing  to 
trouble  her ;  but  it  did  trouble  her  exceedingly. 
She  did  not  wish  Sinclair  to  think  that  because 
of  what  he  had  told  her  she  was  treating  with 
contempt  a  man  for  whom  she  felt  no  contempt 
in  her  heart — nothing  but  compassion. 

In  accordance  with  the  arrangement  that  had 
been  made  the  previous  day  she  accompanied 
Sinclair  down  the  kloof ;  but  her  pleasure  in 
the  excursion  was  not  so  keen  as  it  had  been  in 
anticipation  ;  she  was  prejudiced  slightly  against 
her  companion.  She  suggested  going  in  a  party  ; 
but  he  refused  to  entertain  the  idea.  He  hated 
crowds,  he  said. 

"  I  took  a  party  down  one  day,"  he  explained, 
"  and  they  just  fooled  about  and  dug  up  ferns. 
Desecration,  I  call  it.  The  ferns  were  thrown 
away,  of  course.  That's  what  happens.  People 


The  Stronger  Influence  39 

must  pick  things.     I   wonder  why  ?     Sheer  de- 
structiveness.     I  like  to  see  things  growing/' 

He  was  helpful  and  agreeable  during  the  walk  ; 
and  his  appreciation  of  everything  when  they 
descended  into  the  green  twilight  of  the  kloof 
pleased  the  girl :  she  shared  in  his  enthusiasm. 
She  stood  silent  amid  the  cool,  green  restfulness 
of  this  shadowed  place,  and  viewed  with  amazed 
eyes  the  wonder  of  its  vegetation  which  grew 
in  a  tangled  luxuriance  of  varying  shades  of 
green  ;  particularly  she  noticed  the  long  trailing 
moss  which  hung  festooned  from  the  trees  over 
the  stream  ;  the  longer  trails  of  clinging  vine 
that  wound  itself  about  every  plant  and  tree 
and  linked  the  whole  together  in  an  ordered 
and  pleasing  confusion.  Huge  boulders,  lichen 
covered,  stood  out  of  the  water  which  purled 
round  them,  and,  with  the  brown  trunks  of  the 
trees,  struck  the  only  separate  note  of  colour 
in  a  scene  that  was  wholly  green  and  lit  with  a 
soft  green  light.  The  sun  did  not  penetrate 
here  through  the  massed  foliage  of  the  locked 
boughs  overhead.  There  was  no  view  of  the 
sky.  The  stream  wound  in  and  out  among  the 
loose  stones  like  a  narrow  footpath  cut  through 
the  dense  vegetation.  Ferns  grew  rankly  beside 
the  water,  in  the  water,  in  the  crevices  of  the 
boulders,  and  in  the  rotting  trunks  of  trees. 
Maidenhair  ferns  were  everywhere  with  long 


40  The  Stronger  Influence 

succulent  fronds,  and  the  feathery  leaves  of  the 
wild  asparagus  trailed  gracefully  above  the  banks. 

Esme  gazed  about  her  in  silent  wonder  ;  and 
her  companion  stood  beside  her  and  watched 
her  pleasure  in  the  scene. 

"  Makes  one  feel  good,  doesn't  it  ?  "  he  said. 

She  turned  to  him  reluctantly.  His  voice 
had  broken  the  quiet  spell  of  the  place  and  caught 
her  back  from  enchantment  to  everyday  things. 

"  I  want  to  sit  on  one  of  those  boulders,"  was 
all  she  said.  "  I  want  just  to  rest  and  be  still." 

"  Yes/'  he  said.  "  But  when  you  are  rested 
we'll  explore  a  bit.  It's  worth  it.  It  goes  on 
like  this  for  ever  so  far,  opening  out  and  closing 
in  again  between  green  walls.  It's  difficult  to 
break  through  in  places  ;  but  I'll  go  first  and 
make  a  clearing  for  you.  Take  my  hand.  These 
stones  are  treacherous." 

"  I'm  glad  you  brought  me  here,"  she  said, 
accepting  his  aid  readily.  "I'm  glad  I  came. 
I've  never  seen  anything  quite  like  this  before. 
It's  wonderful.  You  are  right :  one  can  imagine 
wild  beasts  here.  One  can  imagine  anything 
here  .  .  .  snakes.  I  should  be  terribly  fright- 
ened if  I  saw  a  snake." 

She  sat  on  a  large  boulder  with  her  hands 
clasping  her  knees,  and  peered  into  the  black- 
green  shadows  nervously.  The  man,  standing 
upon  the  stones  which  just  escaped  the  water, 


The  Stronger  Influence  41 

watched  her  with  an  expression  of  interest  and 
of  satisfaction  in  his  eyes.  The  grace  of  her 
unstudied  pose,  the  serious  look  on  the  bright,  fair 
face,  appealed  pleasantly  to  him.  In  his  preoccupa- 
tion he  scarcely  heeded  what  she  said,  until  she 
turned  her  face  and  looked  up  at  him  inquiringly. 

"  Are  there  snakes  here  ?  "  she  asked. 

"  I  don't  know.  I've  not  seen  one.  I  think 
we  are  more  likely  to  discover  them  higher  up. 
They  like  warmth.  It  is  always  wise  to  tread 
cautiously  though." 

"  Ugh  !  '  She  drew  her  feet  a  little  higher 
above  the  water  and  shivered  apprehensively 
and  looked  about  her.  "  It  rather  spoils  one's 
enjoyment,  thinking  of  these  things." 

"Don't  think  of  them,"  he  returned.  "There 
are  plenty  of  people  in  Africa  and  plenty  of 
snakes,  but  it's  very  rarely  that  we  hear  of  any 
one  being  bitten.  I  come  here  often ;  it's  the 
only  cool  place  on  a  hot  day." 

"  Well,  I  shan't  come  here  often — although  I 
love  it,"  she  added.  "  Anything  might  happen 
here.  It's  difficult  to  believe  that  the  sun  is 
shining  somewhere — blazing  right  over  our  heads. 
Here  it  is  always  twilight,  which  later  will  deepen 
into  night.  It's  lovely,  with  a  sort  of  eerie 
beauty.  I  don't  want  to  talk.  I  want  just 
to  enjoy  it  and  be  quiet." 

He    understood    her    mood.     The    place    had 


42  The  Stronger  Influence 

impressed  him  in  much  the  same  way  when  he 
first  beheld  it.  Familiarity  with  it  had  made 
its  wild  beauty  less  assertively  striking ;  but 
the  girl's  keen  pleasure  in  everything  recalled 
his  own  earlier  impressions  and  added  to  them. 
He  strolled  off  and  left  her  in  undisturbed  con- 
templation while  he  explored  along  the  bank  of 
the  stream  and  considered  the  best  spots  to  show 
her  when  she  wearied  of  inactivity  and  expressed 
the  wish  to  go  on. 

But  Esme's  mind  at  the  moment  was  detached 
from  her  surroundings.  She  was  thinking  very 
earnestly  of  the  man  who  held  aloof  from  friend- 
ship, who  seemed  to  regard  with  mistrust,  almost 
with  dislike,  every  one  about  him.  She  had 
never  before  met  any  one  who  was  at  enmity 
with  mankind.  The  experience  interested  her 
immensely,  troubled  her.  It  occurred  to  her 
as  altogether  sad  and  incomprehensible  that  a 
man  should  shun  his  fellows  and  enclose  himself 
in  a  stronghold  of  impenetrable  reserve.  She 
longed  to  pierce  the  hard  crust  of  his  egotism,  to 
draw  him  out  of  himself.  It  was  unthinkable 
that  a  man  of  intelligence  should  be  misanthropic 
from  choice  and  without  cause.  Possibly  at 
some  time  he  had  suffered,  been  badly  hurt  by 
some  one.  Yet  it  was  difficult  to  believe  that  a 
man  could  vent  on  the  world  at  large  his  sense 
of  injury  for  the  fault  of  an  individual. 


The  Stronger  Influence  43 

She  leaned  down  towards  the  water  and 
looked  into  its  still  brown  pools  and  frowned 
thoughtfully.  It  vexed  her  that  this  man  should 
have  laid  such  a  grip  on  her  imagination : 
his  personality  obtruded  itself  persistently  on 
her  thoughts.  The  thing  was  beginning  to  worry 
her. 

She  turned  her  head  to  look  for  her  companion. 
He  was  not  in  sight.  Abruptly  a  feeling  of  loneli- 
ness, a  loneliness  that  was  almost  terrifying, 
seized  her.  That  Sinclair  was  somewhere  near 
at  hand  she  knew,  but  the  sense  of  being  alone  in 
that  eerie  spot  frightened  her  ;  the  silence  of  the 
place  frightened  her.  Yet  when  the  silence 
snapped  suddenly,  and  her  attention  was  caught 
by  the  sound  of  some  one  or  something  breaking 
through  the  undergrowth  and  coming  towards 
her,  her  fear  of  these  sounds  was  greater  than  her 
fear  of  the  silence.  She  wanted  to  move,  wanted 
to  cry  out ;  and  she  could  not  move,  could  not 
utter  a  word.  She  sat  staring  in  the  direction  of 
the  noise,  staring,  and  waiting  for  she  knew  not 
what. 

The  sounds  were  not  made  by  Sinclair ;  they 
came  from  the  opposite  direction  to  that  which 
he  had  taken.  Thoughts  of  wild  beasts  flashed 
into  her  mind.  She  wondered  what  she  would 
do  if  out  of  the  green  tangle  a  tiger  suddenly 
appeared.  She  believed  that  she  would  do 


44  The  Stronger  Influence 

nothing,  that  she  would  remain  there  staring, 
rooted  to  the  spot.  The  crashing  sounds  grew 
louder,  came  nearer.  She  saw  the  boughs  bend, 
their  massed  foliage  shake  and  quiver  as  if  a 
wind  swept  through  it.  A  branch  snapped 
loudly.  Then  out  of  the  swaying  greenery  a 
man's  arm  protruded,  and  the  next  moment 
Hallam  emeiged  and  stood  still,  looking  at  her 
with  a  surprise  greater  than  her  own.  Esme  gave 
a  little  gulp  of  relief  and  laughed  weakly. 

"  Oh !  "  she  said,  and  sat  still  clutching  at  the 
boulder  with  her  hands. 

"  Did  I  frighten  you  ?  "  he  asked. 

She  nodded  without  speaking  ;  and  he  advanced 
a  little  nearer  to  her,  and  stood  still  again,  leaning 
on  his  stick. 

"I'm  sorry.  I  had  no  idea  any  one  was  here. 
You  aren't  alone  ?  ' 

"  No.  Mr.  Sinclair  is  somewhere — over  there. 
I  thought — I  thought  you  were  a  tiger." 

Involuntarily  he  smiled. 

'  You've  been  listening  to  the  chatter  at  the 
hotel,"  he  said. 

"It's  stupid,  I  know."  She  tapped  her  foot 
on  a  stone  with  a  movement  of  impatience  and 
looked  away  from  him.  "It's  easy  to  imagine 
anything  in  this  jungle.  There  is  something 
awesome  even  in  its  beauty." 

"  It's  the  dim  light,"  he  said,  "  and  the  sug- 


The  Stronger  Influence  45 

gestion  of  things  hidden  from  sight.  With  your 
nerves  you  should  remain  in  the  sunlight." 

Esme"  laughed  suddenly.  She  turned  her  face 
towards  him  again  and  scrutinized  him  with 
greater  attentiveness. 

"Yes,"  she  said.  "I  like  the  sunlight.  I 
like  things  which  are  revealed  and  comprehensive ; 
the  furtiveness  of  secrecy  terrifies  me.  I  prefer 
to  move  in  the  open." 

"  And  miss  the  surprises  which  life  conceals," 
he  said. 

"  I  hadn't  thought  of  that.  But  I'm  not 
particularly  inquisitive,"  she  replied. 

Why  it  should  vex  her  to  see  him  smile  at  this, 
she  did  not  know  ;  but  that  he  did  smile,  and 
that  she  resented  his  doing  so,  was  certain.  She 
flushed  and  looked  round  for  her  escort,  whom 
she  now  saw  coming  towards  them,  leaping 
agilely  across  the  boulders  in  the  stream.  He 
showed  surprise  on  seeing  Hallam  ;  his  manner 
was  not  cordial. 

"  If  you  are  rested,  we'll  go  on,"  he  said, 
addressing  himself  to  Esme". 

She  stood  up.  Hallam  raised  his  hat  and 
turned  back  in  the  direction  whence  he  had  come. 
The  girl  felt  sorry  as  she  watched  him  go ;  she 
would  have  liked  it  had  he  joined  their  walk. 
But  she  believed  that  to  propose  such  a  thing 
would  have  been  acceptable  neither  to  him  nor 


46  The  Stronger  Influence 

to  Sinclair.  In  any  case  he  would  probably 
have  declined.  Already  the  ice,  so  unexpectedly 
broken,  was  forming  again,  a  thin  crust  of  resist- 
ance upon  the  surface  of  his  temporary  geniality. 


The  Stronger  Influence  VI 

THAT  night  Esme  lay  wakeful  in  the  darkness 
with  a  brain  too  active  for  sleep,  courting 
slumber,  which  refused  to  come  to  her  aid,  physic- 
ally tired,  yet  not  overtired,  and  mentally  very 
clear  and  wide  awake. 

Outside  her  window  the  crickets  were  chirruping 
noisily,  and  in  the  warm  darkness,  which  pressed 
about  her  as  she  lay  wide-eyed  and  very  still  in 
her  narrow  white  bed,  the  mosquitoes  hummed 
annoyingly  close  to  her  ears.  The  sounds  of 
people  moving  in  the  rooms  adjoining  hers  had 
ceased  long  since  ;  the  night  was  quiet,  with  the 
listening  hush  which  settles  upon  a  place  when 
the  activities  of  the  day  are  ended  and  people 
sleep.  It  seemed  to  Esme  that  she  alone  of  all 
the  household  was  awake. 

She  believed  that  it  must  be  long  past  midnight. 
It  had  not  as  a  matter  of  fact  struck  twelve  o'clock ; 
and  some  one  besides  herself  was  awake,  had  not 
yet  gone  to  bed.  She  heard  him  go  later  ;  heard 
a  stumbling  step  going  clumsily  and  heavily 
along  the  stoep.  Through  the  thin  walls  the 

47 


The  Stronger  Influence 


noise  of  the  footsteps  was  distinctly  audible.  She 
lay  still  on  her  pillow  and  listened  to  them,  her 
heart  beating  quickly  and  the  pulses  in  her  temples 
throbbing  like  tiny  hammers.  A  sick  horror 
gripped  her.  She  knew,  without  seeing  the  man, 
who  it  was  who  thus  disturbed  the  silence,  and, 
with  the  uncertain  blundering  step  of  a  man  under 
the  influence  of  drink,  lurched  heavily  along  the 
stoep  to  his  room.  He  made  so  much  noise  in 
getting  there  that  she  felt  certain  all  the  occupants 
of  the  rooms  he  passed  would  wake  and  hear  him. 

Her  cheeks  burned  with  shame  for  him,  and 
her  heart  was  filled  with  a  great  pity.  What  joy 
could  he  derive  from  this  terrible  misuse  of  life  ? 
What  a  waste  of  his  manhood  and  of  his  intellect ! 

With  the  cessation  of  the  sounds  a  deeper  hush 
than  before  seemed  to  settle  upon  the  night ; 
even  the  crickets  became  less  insistent :  the  world 
slept ;  every  one  slept,  save  herself.  She  alone 
of  all  the  household  kept  wakeful  vigil  until  the 
dawn  broke,  and  brought  with  its  hopeful  promise 
of  a  new  day  rest  and  forgetfulness  to  her  weary 
brain. 

Esme  woke  late,  and  had  barely  time  to  dress 
before  the  gong  sounded  for  breakfast.  With 
a  curious  reluctance  to  meet  again  the  man  whose 
noisy  movements  had  disturbed  her  overnight, 
she  went  into  the  coffee-room  and  seated  herself 
at  table.  Hallam's  seat  was  empty.  It  was 


The  Stronger  Influence  49 

still  empty  when  she  rose  at  the  finish  of  breakfast 
and  went  out  on  to  the  stoep  into  the  sunshine. 

vShe  was  relieved  that  she  had  been  spared  the 
ordeal  of  meeting  him,  of  sitting  beside  him  while 
the  memory  of  last  night  was  still  so  painfully 
vivid  in  her  thoughts.  Her  whole  being  shrank 
from  witnessing  his  degradation.  He  must  feel, 
far  more  acutely  than  she  felt  for  him,  the  em- 
barrassment of  appearing  in  public,  of  meeting 
the  criticism  in  unsympathetic  eyes. 

She  played  tennis  during  the  morning,  and 
played  badly  ;  her  heart  was  not  in  the  game, 
and  the  careless  gaiety  of  her  companions  jarred 
on  her  sober  mood.  They  rallied  her  on  her 
preoccupation,  until  she  pleaded  a  headache ; 
when  Sinclair,  leaving  the  others  to  play  singles, 
led  her  away  to  a  quiet  corner  in  the  garden 
where  she  could  sit  and  rest. 

He  was  glad  to  get  her  alone.  He  was  leaving 
on  the  morrow,  going  back  to  his  job  in  a  stuffy 
office  in  a  dull  little  town. 

"  Uitenhage  is  about  the  sleepiest  hole  in  South 
Africa,"  he  grumbled. 

"  I  think  it  is  lovely,"  the  girl  returned.  "  I 
went  there  once  when  the  roses  were  in  bloom." 

"  Oh  !  it's  pretty  enough.  And  it's  handy  to 
the  Bay.  I  shall  look  you  up  when  you  return — 
may  I  ?  " 

"  I    shall    be    very    pleased,"    she    answered. 

* 


$O  The  Stronger  Influence 

"  But  you'll  have  to  choose  a  holiday.  I  am 
going  back  to  my  job  too.  I  teach  music." 

"  Oh,  really  !  That's  fairly  strenuous,  I  should 
think.  What  a  bore  for  you." 

She  laughed. 

"It's  my  bread  and  butter.  There  are  less 
pleasant  methods  of  making  a  livelihood.  But 
of  course  one  gets  tired." 

He  nodded  sympathetically. 

"  I  want  you  to  rest  this  afternoon  and  get 
rid  of  the  headache.  I'd  like  to  take  you  for  a 
walk  after  dinner  if  you  care  about  going.  It's 
my  last  night.  Until  you  came  there  was  no  one 
to  walk  with — except  Hallam.  And  he's  such 
an  unsociable  beast.  I  wish  you  wouldn't  talk 
to  him.  He  is  not  a  suitable  companion  for 
you." 

"  Don't  say  those  things,"  she  interposed 
quickly.  "  It's  ungenerous." 

She  felt  angry  with  Sinclair,  felt  an  inexplicable 
necessity  to  defend  the  man  he  spoke  of  in  such 
slighting  terms.  It  was  not  merely  because  he 
was  absent  and  unable  to  defend  himself ;  there 
was  something  more  than  that  to  account  for  her 
indignation ;  she  realized  that  much  without 
understanding  its  nature.  Never  in  all  her  life 
had  she  met  any  one  who  interested  her  so  pro- 
foundly, who  so  deeply  stirred  her  pity.  She 
wanted  to  help  this  man — with  her  friendship. 


The  Stronger  Influence  51 

There  was  no  other  thought  in  her  mind.  And 
he  would  not  let  her.  He  demanded  simply  to 
be  left  alone.  A  girl  could  not  thrust  her  friend- 
ship on  a  man  who  did  not  want  it.  But  she 
could  defend  him  in  her  thoughts  and  in  her 
speech  without  fear  of  his  resentment. 

"  I  think  Mr.  Hallam  is  a  very  remarkable 
man,"  she  said.  "  I  should  hesitate  to  criticize 
him." 

Sinclair  looked  at  her  in  surprise. 

"  Do  you  know,"  he  said,  "  that  is  the  second 
time  I  have  annoyed  you  in  reference  to  the  same 
subject." 

"  Not  annoyed,"  she  corrected, — "  disap- 
pointed me,  rather.  I  hate  to  hear  a  man  speak 
disparagingly  of  another." 

The  young  man  was  vexed,  and  showed  it. 
Her  ready  championship  of  Hallam  displeased 
him.  It  was  a  sort  of  feminine  instinct,  he 
supposed,  to  shed  the  light  of  a  tender  compassion 
on  the  derelict.  Women  were  absurdly  senti- 
mental. 

"  You  do  jump  on  a  fellow/1  he  said,  aggrieved. 
'  I  had  no  idea  you  would  take  my  words  amiss. 
Forget  them,  please." 

"  And  you  forget  my  irritable  mood." 

She  smiled  at  him  with  kind  brown  eyes,  eyes 
which  expressed  liking  in  fuller  measure  than 
their  displeasure  of  a  moment  before.  She  re- 


52  The  Stronger  Influence 

gretted  her  outburst.  What  did  it  concern 
her  what  he  thought,  what  any  one  thought  of 
a  man  who  was  almost  a  stranger  to  her,  whom 
a  few  days  ago  she  did  not  know. 

"  I  slept  badly  last  night/'  she  added,  as  if 
to  account  for  her  ill-humour. 

"  How  was  that  ?  "  he  asked,  more  with  a  view 
to  turning  the  talk  than  from  curiosity. 

His  question  recalled  the  ugly  memories  of  the 
night  very  vividly  to  her.  She  heard  again  in 
imagination  the  stumbling  footsteps  gomg  along 
the  stoep.  Her  face  clouded. 

"  What  does  keep  one  wakeful  at  times  ?  " 
she  inquired.  "  The  mind  works,  I  suppose.  I 
think  perhaps  I  was  tired." 

"  I  took  you  too  far,"  he  said  contritely.  "  It 
was  inconsiderate  of  me.  But  you  seemed  so 
interested." 

"  I  was.  I  wouldn't  have  missed  a  bit  of  it 
It  was  worth  a  sleepless  night." 

"  I  doubt  whether  I  should  consider  anything 
worth  the  sacrifice  of  a  night's  sleep,"  he  said, 
and  laughed.  "  It  would  take  a  lot  to  spoil  my 
rest.  The  air  here  acts  like  a  narcotic  with  me." 

"  That's  odd,"  she  said.  "  It  makes  me  alert. 
There's  something  in  the  atmosphere  of  this  place 
— I  don't  know  what  it  is — which  influences  me 
strangely.  I  go  about  in  a  state  of  expectant 
curiosity.  I'm  looking  for  things  to  happen. 


The  Stronger  Influence  53 

That's  absurd,  I  know ;   but  the  feeling's  there." 

He  scrutinized  her  intently.  In  this  lonely 
spot  what  could  happen  out  of  the  ordinary  run 
of  events  ?  Nothing  surely  in  the  nature  of 
change — unless  the  change  were  in  one's  self. 

"  The  state  of  your  mind  is  provocative,"  he 
said.  "  By  invoking  things  to  happen  you  may 
precipitate  a  crisis.  It  is  always  a  dangerous 
practice  to  tempt  the  gods." 

"  I  don't  agree  with  that.  I'm  something  of 
a  fatalist,"  she  said.  "  I  believe,  not  that  our 
lives  are  prearranged,  but  that  the  event  which 
happens  is  inevitable,  that  we  must  accept  things 
as  they  come  to  us.  The  manner  of  our  accept- 
ance alone  is  left  to  our  choice." 

"  I  should  hesitate  to  adopt  that  theory,"  he 
said.  "  I  like  to  feel  that  I  have  some  say  in 
the  arrangement  of  my  life.  According  to  your 
idea  a  man  might  hold  himself  immune  for  any 
evil  he  contrived.  It  relieves  the  individual  of 
all  responsibility." 

"No."  She  flushed  slightly.  "The  qualities 
of  good  and  evil  are  ours  to  develop  at  will.  The 
individual  is  always  responsible  for  his  own 
nature." 

"  I  don't  like  your  theory  any  better  as  you 
enlarge  it,"  he  replied.  "  It's  rough  on  any  one 
to  have  to  keep  good  with  all  the  odds  against 
him.  And  if  he  fail,  what  then  ?  " 


54  The  Stronger  Influence 

"  I  don't  believe  in  complete  human  failure," 
she  answered  quietly.  "  Do  you  ?  ' 

"  I  don't  know." 

He  was  thinking  of  Hallam,  considering  him  a 
fair  example  of  failure ;  she  also  was  thinking  of 
Hallam,  but  with  greater  kindness.  Derelict 
though  the  man  appeared,  the  belief  held  with 
her  that  one  day  he  would  pull  himself  together 
and  make  good.  She  got  up  suddenly. 

"  We  are  growing  too  serious,"  she  said  ;  "  and 
it's  nearly  lunch  time.  What  a  blessed  break  in 
the  day  one's  meals  make." 

Hallam  was  in  his  accustomed  seat  when  she 
returned,  but  he  did  not  look  up  when  she  passed 
him  on  her  way  inside.  He  was  reading  a  news- 
paper. His  hands,  holding  the  printed  sheet, 
shook  more  than  usual,  she  fancied ;  otherwise 
he  looked  much  the  same.  She  believed  that 
he  was  aware  of  her  presence,  though  he  made 
no  sign  that  he  saw  her.  She  passed  him  and 
entered  the  narrow  passage  and  went  direct  to 
her  room.  An  unaccountable  shyness  had  come 
over  her.  She  shrank  from  going  into  lunch, 
shrank  from  the  thought  of  sitting  beside  him 
in  the  embarrassing  silence  which  his  taciturnity 
imposed.  The  thing  was  getting  on  her  nerves. 
In  the  case  of  any  other  man  she  believed  that 
she  would  not  have  minded  this  blunt  ungracious- 
ness ;  but  this  man  had  the  power  to  hurt  her. 


The  Stronger  Influence  55 

The  thing  was  incomprehensible  and  astonished 
her  greatly.  Why  should  his  behaviour  wound 
her  when  in  another  man  it  would  merely  have 
given  offence  ? 

The  gong  for  luncheon  sounded ;  but  still  she 
lingered  in  her  room,  reluctant  to  leave  this 
quiet  haven  for  the  dining-room  and  the  dis- 
quieting influence  of  her  unresponsive  neighbour. 
But  the  ordeal  had  to  be  faced.  It  was  ridiculous 
to  allow  her  nervousness  to  get  the  upper  hand. 
With  an  action  that  was  almost  violent  in  the 
suddenness  of  her  resolve,  she  opened  the  door, 
and  stepping  into  the  passage  went  swiftly  along 
to  the  dining-room.  At  the  door  of  the  dining- 
room  she  and  Hallam  met  face  to  face.  He  was 
going  in,  but  he  drew  back  to  allow  her  to  precede 
him.  Thanking  him  briefly,  she  passed  him  and 
went  on  and  took  her  seat.  He  followed  leisurely. 
When  he  was  seated  and  waiting  to  be  served, 
he  turned  to  her  with  unexpected  suddenness 
and  observed : 

'  You  missed  a  great  deal  this  morning  through 
oversleeping.  I  have  never  seen  a  finer  sunrise 
in  my  life  than  the  one  I  witnessed  on  my  walk." 

"  You  were  up  at  sunrise  ?  ' 

Her  surprised  tone,  the  almost  incredulous  look 
in  her  eyes,  drew  a  wondering  glance  from  him. 
She  saw  it  and  felt  furious  with  herself  for  her 
stupidity.  She  had  imagined  him  sleeping  late 


56  The  Stronger  Influence 

that  morning,  had  supposed  his  non-appearance 
at  breakfast  was  the  result  of  his  overnight 
excess ;  and  she  had  been  tactless  enough  to 
betray  surprise  on  learning  that  he  had  been 
abroad  so  early.  She  flushed  with  confusion  and 
averted  her  eyes. 

"  I  am  always  up  before  the  sun,"  he  said.  "  I 
do  most  of  my  walking  before  breakfast.  It's 
the  best  time  of  the  day." 

"  Yes,"  she  agreed  ;  "I  suppose  it  is.  I  slept 
late." 

An  inexplicable  vindictiveness  came  over  her. 
She  turned  to  him  again  and  added  almost 
brusquely : 

"  I  was  extraordinarily  wakeful  last  night.  I 
did  not  get  to  sleep  before  the  dawn  broke." 

"  You  should  cultivate  the  habit  of  sleeping  in 
a  hurry,"  he  advised.  "  I  get  all  the  rest  I  need 
in  a  few  hours." 

He  began  to  eat.  She  watched  him  for  a 
moment  in  silence  and  with  a  swift  compunction 
for  her  recent  ill-humour. 

"  I  am  sorry  I  missed  the  sunrise,"  she  said, 
relenting,  and  wishful  to  make  amends.  "  Tell 
me  about  it." 

He  smiled  faintly. 

"  Can  any  one  describe  a  sunrise  ?  "  he  asked. 
"  Are  there  any  words  in  our  language  which 
will  paint  nature  in  her  most  wonderful  aspects  ? 


The  Stronger  Influence  57 

If  there  are  I  am  ignorant  of  them.  You  must 
go  out  and  see  these  things  for  yourself." 

This  was  not  encouraging,  but  she  persevered. 
A  sort  of  inflexible  determination  to  abolish 
finally  the  frigid  distances  he  insistently  main- 
tained armed  her  with  a  temporary  bravado 
which  amazed  herself.  It  probably  amazed  him 
equally,  but  he  made  no  sign  if  so. 

"  I  do  not  like  seeing  things  by  myself.  Won't 
you  let  me  accompany  you  some  morning  ?  ' 

"  Most  assuredly,"  he  answered,  after  a  barely 
perceptible  hesitation.  "  But  quite  possibly  you 
will  miss  your  breakfast.  I  tramp  far." 

"  I  shall  not  complain,"  she  said.  "  If  you  are 
equal  to  fasting  I  have  no  doubt  I  can  stand  it." 

Hallam  looked  quietly  amused.  He  surveyed 
her  quite  steadily  for  the  fraction  of  a  second, 
and  then  very  deliberately  turned  his  attention 
again  to  his  plate. 

"  Do  you  really  think,"  he  asked  presently, 
"  that  your  endurance  is  equal  to  mine  ?  You 
don't  look  to  me  very  strong." 

She  was  thinking  the  same  about  him,  but  she 
did  not  voice  her  thought.  Possibly  he  read 
what  she  was  thinking  in  her  face  when  he  glanced 
again  momentarily  towards  her ;  whether  this 
were  so  or  not,  he  added  after  a  pause  : 

"  My  constitution  is  made  of  cast  iron.  If  it 
were  not  it  would  have  broken  down  long  ago. 


58  The  Stronger  Influence 

Notwithstanding  that  my  hand  has  difficulty  in 
raising  this  glass  without  spilling  its  contents,  I 
could  lift  you  with  it  as  easily  as  I  could  lift  a 
feather." 

She  looked  at  the  hand  stretched  out  towards 
the  glass  of  milk  and  soda  beside  his  plate,  and 
noticed  how  it  shook,  and  wondered  that  he 
should  draw  her  attention  to  it.  He  had  done 
so  intentionally,  mastering  his  usual  self-con- 
sciousness in  regard  to  this  physical  defect,  for 
what  reason  she  failed  to  understand.  Oddly, 
she  felt  no  embarrassment  while  she  looked  at 
his  hand,  and  he  betrayed  none  either.  He  lifted 
the  glass  unsteadily  and  drank  from  it  and  set  it 
down  again  on  the  cloth. 

"  I  have  travelled  for  a  week  on  a  pocketful  of 
dried  mealies,  and  been  none  the  worse  for  it," 
he  said.  "  But  I  shouldn't  recommend  that  diet 
for  you." 

"  I  think,"  she  said  unexpectedly  and  without 
annoyance,  "  that  you  don't  wish  to  be  bothered 
with  my  company." 

"From  the  fear  that  I  may  have  to  carry 
you  ?  "  he  suggested.  '  You  are  mistaken.  If 
you  like  to  be  energetic  to-morrow  I  will  show 
you  where  best  to  view  the  sunrise.  And  I 
promise  you  that  if  we  miss  our  breakfast  here 
I  will  take  you  to  a  house  where  I  can  obtain  a 
meal  at  any  hour  of  the  day." 


The  Stronger  Influence  59 

"  You  breakfasted  there  this  morning  ?  "  she 
said,  turning  a  face  flushed  with  pleasure  to  his. 

"  I  breakfasted  there  this  morning.  They  are 
accustomed  to  my  irregular  habits,  and  they  don't 
mind." 

'  That  will  be  nice,"  she  said. 

He  laughed. 

"  I  hope  you  won't  be  disappointed." 

"  Disappointed  in  what  ? — the  sunrise,  or  the 
breakfast  ?  " 

"  I  pay  you  the  compliment  of  supposing  that 
such  material  pleasures  as  food  do  not  interest 
you,"  he  returned  ;  "  nevertheless,  you  will  find 
the  fare  sufficient .  The  air  in  the  early  morning 
is  chilly,  so  dress  warmly." 

With  which  advice  he  closed  the  conversation 
as  resolutely  as  a  man  who,  talking  over  a  tele- 
phone, shuts  off  communication  by  replacing  the 
receiver.  He  bent  over  his  plate  and  went  on 
eating  as  though  he  had  forgotten  entirely  the 
girl's  existence.  He  finished  his  breakfast  before 
she  did  and  got  up  and  went  out  by  the  window. 


The  Stronger  Influence  VII 

DURING  the  twenty-two  unenlivening  and, 
latterly,  busy  years  of  her  life  Esme  Lester 
had  never  been  in  love,  had  not  known  the  excite- 
ment which  many  girls  of  her  age  enjoy  of  possess- 
ing a  lover.  She  was  not  a  sentimental  young 
woman,  and  she  had  not  had  much  time  in  which 
to  indulge  in  these  distractions.  The  woman  who 
earns  her  livelihood  has  her  mind  occupied  with 
graver  matters  generally.  Love,  if  it  succeed  in 
penetrating  her  preoccupation,  takes  her  usually 
unaware  and  remains  sometimes  unsuspected  for 
quite  an  appreciable  while. 

It  was  possibly  not  love  which  in  the  early 
stages  of  their  acquaintance  aroused  her  interest 
in  Hallam.  Mainly  her  feeling  for  him  was  a 
mixture  of  womanly  compassion  and  of  repug- 
nance so  intense  that  at  times  it  shouldered  pity 
into  the  background,  and  left  her  chilled  with 
disgust  for  his  weakness  and  bitterly  ashamed 
for  him. 

Her  acquaintance  with  Hallam  developed  sur- 
prisingly. The  occasion  of  their  walk  to  view  the 

60 


The  Stronger  Influence  61 

sunrise  advanced  it  to  a  stage  of  easy  intimacy. 
The  tentacles  of  friendship  reached  out  and 
struck  deep  into  the  natures  of  both.  The  man 
accepted  rather  than  welcomed  the  change  in 
their  relations.  He  deplored,  despite  its  agree- 
ableness,  the  growing  intimacy  as  something 
dangerous  to  his  peace,  something  which  might 
not  be  pursued  and  developed  beyond  a  certain 
point,  which,  because  of  its  limitation,  was  dis- 
turbing and  undesirable.  No  man  cares  to  set  a 
boundary  line  to  his  intercourse  with  a  woman 
who  attracts  him  ;  immediately  with  the  appear- 
ance of  the  barrier  the  desire  to  surmount  it  is 
bred. 

The  state  of  Hallam's  mind  was  that  of  paralysed 
initiative.  He  was  incapable  of  making  any 
sustained  effort.  He  drifted  into  this  friendship 
as  he  drifted  into  less  desirable  practices.  Heredi- 
tary tendencies  and  inclination  both  led  him  to 
follow  his  present  mode  of  life  ;  nor  had  it  seemed 
to  him  in  any  degree  shameful  until  this  girl 
stepped  suddenly  across  his  path  and  altered  his 
view  of  things.  But  her  influence  was  not  yet 
sufficiently  strong  to  cause  him  more  than  a 
passing  regret  for  the  waste  he  was  making  of 
life.  His  life  was  his  own  affair  ;  it  was  no  one's 
business  how  he  elected  to  use  it. 

On  the  morning  of  their  first  walk  together  he 
came  out  on  to  the  stoep,  stick  in  hand,  ready  to 


62  The  Stronger  Influence 

start,  and  found  Esme  waiting  for  him.  He  re- 
turned her  greeting  unsmilingly,  and  scrutinized 
her  attentively  with  brows  drawn  together  above 
the  keen  eyes. 

"  You  had  better  fetch  a  coat/'  he  said.  "  The 
morning  air  is  chilly." 

"  It  is  fresh,"  she  agreed ;  "  but  I  thought 
perhaps  walking — it  may  be  very  hot  before  we 
return." 

"  It  probably  will  be,"  he  replied.  "  But  I 
would  prefer  that  you  wore  a  coat.  When  it 
gets  hot  I  will  carry  it  for  you." 

Smiling,  she  went  inside  to  follow  his  instruc- 
tion. When  she  came  out  again  she  wore  a 
woollen  sport's  coat  over  her  thin  dress. 

'  That's  better,"  he  said.  "  It  is  unpleasant 
to  feel  cold." 

He  walked  down  the  little  path  beside  her  and 
out  on  to  the  open  road.  A  pale  mist,  like  a 
thin  white  fog,  shrouded  the  prospect  and  lent 
a  bracing  coldness  to  the  air,  which  felt  fresh 
and  clean  with  the  crisp  purity  of  mountain  air, 
washed  by  the  overnight  dews.  The  girl  felt 
the  benefit  of  the  extra  warmth  of  the  coat ;  it 
was  fresher  than  she  had  supposed  out  on  the 
open  road.  A  little  wind  that  had  more  than  a 
touch  of  sharpness  in  its  breath  blew  in  their 
faces  as  they  walked. 

"  I  had  no  idea  the  mornings  were  so  good," 


The  Stronger  Influence  63 

she  said.     "  I've  not  been  out  so  early  before." 

"  People  miss  more  than  they  realize  through 
lying  between  the  sheets,"  he  said.  "  In  a  country 
like  this  the  bulk  of  the  day's  work  should  be 
accomplished  before  breakfast." 

"  Is  that  the  principle  you  act  on  ?  "  she  asked. 

He  looked  grimly  ahead  of  him  and  was  slow 
in  replying. 

'  That  is  the  principle  I  should  act  upon  if  I 
did  any  work,"  he  said  at  length. 

Esme  lifted  wondering  eyes  to  his  face. 

"  It  must  be  a  great  responsibility  to  be  inde- 
pendent of  work,"  she  said. 

Hallam  laughed  suddenly. 

"  Do  you  really  think  so  ?  Most  people  would 
reverse  that  opinion.  The  weight  of  it  does  not 
press  on  me  unduly." 

He  flicked  at  the  dust  of  the  road  with  his 
stick  and  at  the  grass  which  grew  beside  the 
road,  and  was  silent  for  a  space.  When  he  spoke 
again  it  was  on  an  entirely  different  subject. 

They  were  swinging  along  down  the  road  at 
a  smart  pace,  and  with  every  yard  of  ground 
they  covered  the  aspect  of  the  land  changed, 
became  more  luxuriant  in  its  growth,  and  alto- 
gether more  rugged  and  assertive.  The  sky  was 
flushed  with  a  soft  pink  like  the  flush  on  the  face 
of  a  child  newly  wakened  from  sleep.  Before 
them  as  they  walked  the  mist  rolled  back,  a 


64  The  Stronger  Influence 

gradually  thinning  vapour  dispersing  before  the 
warmth  of  the  coming  day,  revealing  with  a 
startling  unexpectedness  in  its  reluctant  retreat 
the  wonder  of  contrasting  colour,  the  beauty  of 
the  curving  road  with  the  shadows  of  the  trees 
across  it,  and  the  great  green  silences  stretching 
above  and  below  ;  the  silence  of  the  heights,  and 
the  more  secretive  silence  of  the  hidden  places  in 
the  furtive  darkness  of  the  gorge. 

The  rose  pink  in  the  sky  deepened,  spread 
itself  warmly  over  the  blue  expanse,  reflected 
warmly  upon  the  silent,  neutral  tinted  world  ; 
changed  the  face  of  the  land  as  it  changed  the 
face  of  the  sky  ;  brightening  and  intensifying  the 
colour  in  the  grass,  in  the  leaves  of  the  trees, 
painting  the  flowers  wonderfully ;  transforming 
everything  with  the  glow  and  warmth  of  life. 
The  world  threw  off  its  lethargy  of  slumber  and 
lifted  its  face  wakefully  to  the  flood  of  sunlight 
which  broke  through  the  rose  and  azure  in  a  flash 
of  gold. 

Esme  stood  transfixed,  with  eyes  turned  to 
the  sunrise.  She  felt  the  warmth  of  the  sun  on 
her  face,  on  her  hands,  on  her  body.  It  was  like 
being  gripped  in  a  warm  embrace,  startling  and 
a  little  disconcerting  by  its  very  suddenness. 
The  gold  of  it  poured  over  her  like  an  amber 
flame.  The  man,  standing  beside  her,  watched 
the  sun-bathed,  radiant  figure,  and  saw  the  wonder 


The  Stronger  Influence  65 

in  her  eyes,  and  remained  silent,  attentive,  mark- 
ing nothing  of  the  glory  in  the  changing  heavens, 
seeing  only  the  startled  gladness  in  a  girl's  sweet 
face,  and  the  glowing  brightness  of  her  figure 
against  the  sunlit  dust  of  the  road. 

While  he  stood  observing  her  the  thought  took 
shape  in  his  mind  and  grew,  as  he  watched  her 
simple  delight  in  what  at  another  time  would 
have  delighted  him  equally,  but  which  now  he 
scarcely  heeded,  that  it  was  an  eternal  shame 
he  should  of  his  own  act,  through  his  lack  of 
endeavour,  reduce  himself  to  a  level  which  divided 
him  from  her,  and  from  women  like  her,  as  widely 
as  the  gorge  was  divided  from  the  heights.  But 
a  steep  uphill  road  connected  gorge  and  heights. 
He  looked  down  the  road  and  up  at  the  heights 
and  frowned.  Then  deliberately  he  turned  his 
attention  away  from  the  girl  and  started  idly  to 
trace  patterns  with  his  stick  in  the  dust.  She 
looked  round  at  him  with  happy  eyes,  in  which 
surprise  gathered  as  she  noted  his  preoccupation. 

"  But  you  are  not  watching  the  sunrise !  " 
she  exclaimed. 

"  It  is  disappointing,"  he  replied.  '  Yester- 
day it  was  finer.  It  is  one  of  nature's  exhaustless 
perplexities  that  she  never  reveals  herself  in  the 
same  guise  twice.  Shall  we  go  on  ?  " 

She  started  to  walk  again,  a  little  chilled,  she 
scarcely  knew  why,  by  his  manner.  She  decided 

5 


66  'The  Stronger  Influence 

that  possibly  he  enjoyed  best  seeing  these  things 
alone.  Some  people  take  their  pleasures  self- 
ishly ;  he  might  be  one  of  these.  To  her  the 
sunrise  had  been  wonderful ;  and  she  longed  to 
express  her  admiration,  to  share  it ;  but  this 
grave  and  silent  companion  made  her  silent  also. 
She  felt  disappointed.  He  stole  a  glance  at  her 
serious  face,  and  his  features  relaxed ;  a  smile 
played  about  the  corners  of  his  mouth. 

"  You  had  better  take  off  your  coat,"  he  said. 
"  The  sun  soon  makes  his  power  felt." 

He  helped  her  to  remove  the  coat,  and  threw 
it  over  his  shoulder  and  walked  on,  holding  it 
with  his  disengaged  hand. 

"  If  the  people  at  the  hotel  could  see  us  they 
would  be  amazed,"  he  said. 

"  Why  ?  "  she  asked,  a  fine  colour  coming  into 
her  cheeks,  which  deepened  as  she  met  his  eyes. 

"  Because  no  one  there  has  ever  seen  me  do  a 
service  for  any  one,"  he  replied. 

"  Perhaps  no  one  has  demanded  service  of  you," 
she  said  quietly. 

"  No  one  has,"  he  answered,  with  a  certain 
grimness  that  suggested  such  a  demand  might 
have  met  with  small  response.  "  In  this  instance 
I  believe  the  idea  originated  with  me." 

She  laughed  brightly. 

"  You  made  me  bring  the  coat,"  she  said.  "  It 
is  only  fair  you  should  carry  it." 


Stronger  Influence  67 


"  I  am  not  complaining.  When  you  are  tired, 
say  so,  and  we  will  rest  by  the  wayside.  We 
have  a  long  way  to  go  yet  ;  and  I  do  not  wish  to 
carry  you  as  well  as  your  coat." 

Again  she  laughed  brightly  and  looked  up  into 
his  face  with  merry  eyes. 

'  You  boasted  that  you  could  do  that  as  easily 
as  you  could  lift  a  feather.  I  should  not  mind 
carrying  a  feather,"  she  said. 

He  looked  down  at  her,  quietly  amused. 

'  Think  of  the  amazement  at  the  hotel  if  I  were 
seen  carrying  you  back  !  "  he  said,  and  smiled  at 
the  quick  flush  which  overspread  her  face. 

"  I  do  not  concern  myself  about  the  opinion 
of  other  people,  as  you  appear  to  do,"  she  retorted. 

'  Very  well,"  he  replied.  '  Then,  when  you 
are  tired,  say  so,  and  I  will  support  my  boast  in 
a  practical  manner." 

"  I  will  consider  your  sensitiveness  in  prefer- 
ence to  my  comfort,"  she  said. 

'  You  have  not  known  me  very  long,"  he 
returned  ;  "  but  in  the  time  I  should  have  thought 
that  a  person  of  ordinary  discernment  would 
have  discovered  that  I  possess  no  sensibilities 
to  disturb." 

"  I  have  discovered  one  or  two  things  about 
you,"  she  answered  gently,  "  but  not  that." 

She  felt  relieved  that  he  did  not  pursue  the 
subject.  He  lifted  his  stick  and  pointed  with 


68  The  Stronger  Influence 

it  away  to  the  right,  where  the  white  wall  of  a 
building  showed  among  the  trees. 

"That  is  where  we  shall  breakfast  on  our 
return,"  he  said. 

"  On  our  return !  Then  you  mean  to  go 
further  ?  " 

We  shall  walk  a  good  mile — 'two  miles,  if  you 
are  equal  to  it — beyond  the  house,"  he  said. 
'  The  road  gets  more  beautiful  the  further  you 
travel.  But  we  will  stop  when  you  wish.  After 
you  have  breakfasted  you  shall  rest  as  long  as 
you  like  before  making  the  journey  back." 


The  Stronger  Influence  VIII 

IT  seemed  to  Esme  as  they  walked  rapidly 
along  in  the  clear  light  air  that  nature 
revealed  herself  in  her  fairest  mood  that  morn- 
ing. Surely  never  had  sunlight  shone  more 
golden,  never  had  the  blue  of  the  sky  appeared 
more  intense,  nor  the  veld  glowed  with  such 
splendour  of  colour.  A  blue  haze,  liquid  in  the 
golden  light,  quivered  before  her  vision  like  a 
thing  alive  with  iridescent  wings  outspread  in 
the  untempered  sunlight  that  poured  itself  out 
upon  the  earth  with  a  brilliance  hurtful  to  the 
eyes.  Everywhere  her  gaze  turned  some  fresh 
wonder  met  the  view.  Green  mingled  with  brown 
and  orange,  shot  with  vivid  colours,  where  the 
hardy  veld  flowers  blossomed  in  the  grass  and 
among  the  piles  of  hot-looking  yellow  stones  by 
the  side  of  the  road.  It  was  a  scene  of  wide  and 
glowing  colour,  of  immense  blue  distances  lit 
by  the  fierce  flame  of  the  sun. 

How  much  of  her  enjoyment  was  due  to  the 
beauty  of  the  day,  and  how  much  to  the  com- 
panionship of  the  man  who  shared  these  things 

69 


The  Stronger  Influence 


with  her,  she  did  not  at  the  time  pause  to  con- 
sider. Her  senses  were  steeped  in  the  delight 
which  is  born  of  the  mysterious  magic  of  beauty. 
Everywhere  she  looked  she  saw  this  magic  pic- 
tured ;  in  her  heart  she  felt  its  influence ;  it 
permeated  all  her  being,  all  her  brain.  And 
again  the  expectation  of  adventure  gripped  her. 
The  belief  that  something  was  about  to  happen, 
something  of  tremendous  personal  importance, 
took  hold  of  her  imagination,  stirred  her  deeply 
with  a  mingling  of  awe  and  joyous  anticipation 
like  nothing  she  had  ever  known  before.  Some- 
thing was  going  to  happen  to  her  ;  something 
surely  had  happened  to  her  already  to  work 
this  change  in  her  calm  practical  nature.  For 
the  first  time  in  her  quiet  uneventful  life  her 
latent  womanhood  rose  to  the  surface  and  found 
expression  in  a  number  of  new  emotions,  emotions 
which  she  vaguely  realized  without  understanding 
their  significance. 

She  felt  intensely  alive.  Her  face  was  radiant 
with  the  joy  of  life.  But  she  did  not  talk  much. 
Hallam  was  not  a  talkative  companion,  and  his 
silence  affected  her.  Occasionally  he  paused  to 
draw  her  attention  to  a  particular  spot ;  and  once 
he  called  a  halt  and  seated  himself  beside  her  in 
the  shade  of  some  bushes  to  rest.  When  he  was 
seated  he  lit  his  pipe.  He  had  brought  apples 
with  him,  and  he  offered  Esme  one,  and  a  knife 


Ihe  Stronger  Influence  71 

to  peel  it  with.  She  returned  the  knife  and  set  her 
teeth  in  the  fruit  and  ate  it  with  keen  enjoyment. 

"  I  get  these  from  a  farm  in  the  neighbourhood/' 
he  explained.  '  You  should  walk  there  one  day. 
They  grow  quite  good  fruit,  and  they  are  always 
glad  to  see  visitors.  It's  not  far  from  the  hotel." 

"  You  appear  to  know  every  one  around  here," 
she  remarked. 

"  1  have  been  here  some  months,"  he  replied. 

"  And  you  seek  your  friends  outside  the  hotel  ?  " 
she  said. 

"  I  neither  seek  nor  find  friends,"  he  answered 
bluntly.  "  I  have  some  slight  acquaintance  with 
these  people  which  they  do  not  discourage  because 
it  is  profitable  to  them.  I  do  not  understand 
disinterested  friendship.  I  do  not  believe  in  it." 

"  Which  is  to  say  you  have  never  felt  a  disin- 
terested friendship  for  any  one,"  she  said.  "  You 
don't  know  what  you  miss." 

"  In  that  case,  I  miss  nothing,"  he  replied. 
"  One  has  to  be  conscious  of  a  need  in  order  to 
appreciate  its  absence.  Life  is  a  huge  business 
of  bluff.  A  few  persons  only  remain  sincere 
because  they  will  not  take  the  trouble  to  pose. 
To  be  sincere  is  to  become  unpopular.  But 
unpopularity  is  less  irksome  than  maintaining  a 
pose  of  sociability.  I  believe  there  are  very 
few  people  who  honestly  love  their  kind." 

"  That  is  too  cvnical  a  belief  to  be  worth  dis- 


72  The  Stronger  Influence 

cussing,"  she  said,  pausing  with  the  half  eaten 
fruit  in  her  hand  to  look  at  him  with  puzzled  eyes. 
He  seemed  amused  rather  than  vexed  at  her 
answer,  and  smoked  for  a  moment  reflectively 
before  resuming  the  talk. 

"  I  doubt  whether  you  are  quite  sincere  in 
making  that  assertion,"  he  contended.  '  It  is 
an  easy  way  of  disposing  of  a  subject  which  one 
feels  unequal  to  combat  in  argument.  Friend- 
ship is  mere  sentiment,  so  is  love  of  one's  fellows  ; 
let  either  interfere  with  self-interest,  and  what 
becomes  of  it  ?  It  is  only  with  a  few  rare  souls 
that  altruism  becomes  a  workable  theory." 

"  So  long  as  there  are  a  few  souls  great  enough 
for  disinterested  love,"  she  said  quietly,  "  there  is 
a  little  light  of  hope  in  the  world." 

She  got  up  and  threw  away  the  remains  of 
the  apple  as  though  her  pleasure  in  the  fruit  were 
spoiled.  She  hated  this  cynical  bitter  talk ; 
at  the  moment  she  almost  hated  the  speaker. 
Because  of  his  own  wasted  life,  his  morbid  views 
and  perverted  ideals,  he  was  trying  to  poison  her 
mind  with  the  hopeless  doctrine  of  his  deliber- 
ate self-deception.  There  was  something  mean 
in  her  opinion  in  this  wilful  attempt  to  darken 
the  world  for  others. 

"  Let  us  go  on,"  she  said.  "  Active  exercise  puts 
you  in  a  better  mood.  I  do  not  like  your  ideas. 
I'm  sorry  ;  but  I  don't  wish  to  listen  to  them." 


'The  Stronger  Influence  73 

"  No  one  likes  my  ideas,"  he  answered,  rising. 
"  I  don't  like  them  myself.  Truth  is  rarely 
agreeable  ;  that  is  why  so  many  people  affect 
lies.  I  think  we  had  better  turn  and  see  about 
breakfast.  Your  lack  of  patience  suggests  to 
me  that  you  are  hungry." 

She  broke  into  a  laugh.  At  the  sound  of  her 
mirth  his  face  cleared  immediately ;  he  stood 
still  in  the  road  and  looked  at  her  curiously. 

"  I  am  glad  that  the  sun  still  shines,"  he  said, 
and  started  again  to  walk  along  the  uphill  path. 

It  was  rather  a  silent  walk  back  to  the  little 
house  among  the  trees.  Esme  felt  shy  at  having 
been  so  outspoken.  He  had  taken  her  rebuke 
in  good  part ;  she  liked  him  for  that.  She  liked, 
too,  the  quiet  way  in  which  he  assumed  command 
of  herself  and  of  everything  when  they  reached 
the  house  and  stepped  up  to  the  little  stoep. 
He  presented  a  new  and  more  forceful  side  to 
his  character. 

The  woman  of  the  house  fetched  two  chairs  at 
his  request,  which  she  placed  side  by  side  in  a 
corner  of  the  stoep  beyond  the  reach  of  the  sun's 
rays  that  fell  slantwise  upon  the  white  stone 
floor  under  the  low  roof.  Hallam  separated  the 
chairs  and  pushed  a  little  deal  table  between 
them  and  sat  down  opposite  the  girl. 

"It  is  pleasant er  to  eat  out  of  doors,"  he  said. 
'  I  didn't  consult  your  wishes,  because  I  knew 


74  The  Stronger  Influence 

it  was  unnecessary  to  do  so.  And  even  if  you 
preferred  breakfasting  inside  it  would  not  be  good 
for  you." 

"  I  am  satisfied  with  your  choice,"  she  answered, 
smiling,  and  took  off  her  hat  and  dropped  it  on 
the  floor.  "  I  could  eat  anywhere ;  I  am  so 
hungry." 

"  Good  !  "  he  exclaimed,  looking  pleased,  and 
surveying  her  across  the  narrow  table,  which 
the  housewife  had  spread  with  a  much-darned 
snow-white  cloth. 

It  gave  him  an  odd  satisfaction  to  see  her  there, 
seated  opposite  to  him,  hatless  and  very  much 
at  her  ease,  a  pleasing  picture  of  fresh  bright 
girlhood,  with  the  glow  of  returning  health  show- 
ing in  her  cheeks. 

The  woman  came  out  from  the  house  and  made 
further  preparations  towards  their  meal.  Occa- 
sionally she  addressed  a  remark  to  Hallam;  but 
she  was  not  loquacious.  She  stared  a  good  deal 
at  his  companion  :  it  doubtless  caused  her  sur- 
prise to  see  him  with  any  one.  During  all  the 
months  since  he  first  came  to  her  house  he  had 
never  brought  a  friend  with  him  before.  She  was 
obviously  familiar  with  Hallam's  requirements. 
Without  consulting  him  she  placed  a  glass  of 
milk  on  the  table  beside  him,  and  inquired  whether 
the  lady  drank  tea  or  coffee.  Esm6  looked  at 
the  glass  of  milk  and  made  up  her  mind  quickly. 


The  Stronger  Influence  75 

"  Neither.     I  will  have  milk  also,"  she  said. 

The  woman  departed  with  the  order,  and  the 
girl  and  the  man  sat  gazing  out  on  the  sunny  road 
and  saying  nothing.  But  the  silence  which  hung 
between  them  was  the  silence  of  comradeship. 
There  was  an  absence  of  all  constraint  in  their 
manner  ;  they  were  like  old  friends  between  whom 
speech  is  unnecessary. 

With  the  arrival  of  breakfast  the  girl  drew  her 
chair  nearer  the  table,  and  served  the  omelette 
and  passed  his  plate  across  to  Hallam  ;  assisting 
him  unobtrusively,  because  of  the  shaking  of 
his  hands  and  his  pitiful  consciousness  of  it.  The 
sight  of  those  nervous  unsteady  hands  hurt  her. 
She  was  always  painfully  aware  of  them  and 
keenly  anxious  to  conceal  the  fact.  She  observed 
that  the  man  endeavoured  to  control  their  tremb- 
ling, and  that  his  inability  to  do  so  distressed 
him.  He  bent  low  over  his  plate.  It  was  this 
habit  of  bending  over  his  meals  and  of  looking 
down  when  he  walked  which  caused  the  stoop 
of  the  shoulders,  giving  him  an  appearance  of 
ill  health. 

While  she  ate  and  attended  to  his  needs  and 
her  own  she  wondered  about  him.  What  could 
be  the  secret  of  his  downfall  ?  Life  had  been 
generous  to  him  in  some  respects ;  possibly  in 
other,  more  important  matters,  it  had  treated 
him  ill.  She  continued  her  study  of  him  while 


76  The  Stronger  Influence 

she  sat  at  the  little  table  opposite  to  him  and 
watched  the  sunlight  slowly  encroaching  on  the 
patch  of  shade  in  which  they  breakfasted.  Before 
they  had  finished  their  meal  it  had  reached  Hallam, 
dividing  them  like  a  curtain  of  fire  which  wrapped 
him  about  in  its  radiant  warmth  and  left  her 
in  the  shadows. 

"  Hadn't  you  better  move  your  seat  ?  "  she 
suggested.  '  The  sun  strikes  on  your  head." 

He  got  up,  dragged  his  chair  nearer  to  hers,  and 
sat  down  again.  Their  chairs  were  side  by  side 
now.  She  leaned  back  in  hers  and  smiled  at 
him. 

'  This  is  infinitely  pleasanter  than  breakfast- 
ing at  a  long  table  among  a  crowd.  They  will 
wonder  at  the  hotel  what  has  become  of  me." 

'  They  will  certainly  never  suppose  that  you 
are  in  my  company,"  he  said. 

"  Why  not  ?  " 

A  dry  smile  twisted  his  lips.  He  scrutinized 
her  for  a  brief  moment,  and  then  answered 
abruptly  : 

'  They  wouldn't  credit  the  possibility  of  my 
inviting  you  to  come." 

'  You  didn't,"  she  answered,  and  laughed  with 
amusement.  The  laugh  was  infectious  ;  Hallam 
joined  in  it. 

"  I  wish  you  hadn't  such  an  awkward  memory 
for  blunt  facts,"  he  said.  "  I  know  I  was  abomin- 


The  Stronger  Influence  77 

ably  rude.  I  am  always  rude.  As  a  rule  that 
doesn't  trouble  me  ;  but  in  your  case  I  regret 
my  lack  of  manners." 

"  I  did  not  notice  it,"  she  replied.  "  I  think 
perhaps  I  was  preoccupied  with  the  lack  of  manners 
betrayed  on  my  part.  You  must  think  me  rather 
pushing." 

Again  he  smiled  dryly,  but  in  the  keen  eyes 
shone  a  kindly  look. 

"  One  day,  if  it  will  interest  you  to  hear  it," 
he  said,  "  I  will  tell  you  what  I  think  of  you. 
But  at  the  moment  I  do  not  feel  equal  to  so  much 
frankness.  If  you  have  finished  breakfast,  let 
me  carry  your  chair  into  the  shade  of  the  trees. 
Since  there  is  no  one  to  whom  your  absence  will 
cause  anxiety  we  will  suit  our  own  convenience 
as  to  the  time  of  our  return." 


The  Stronger  Influence  IX 

THE  two  or  three  guests  at  the  hotel  who 
witnessed  Esme's  return  in  the  company 
of  Hallam  were  filled  with  amazement  at  the 
unusual  spectacle  of  the  man  who  was  never 
known  to  associate  with  any  one,  walking  beside 
the  girl  and  carrying  her  coat  across  his  shoulder, 
with  an  air  of  being  on  perfectly  friendly  terms 
with  his  companion  and  with  himself.  The  two 
were  laughing  when  they  neared  the  gate  ;  but 
the  man's  expression  settled  into  its  habitual 
boredom  as  he  followed  the  girl  up  the  path  and 
mounted  the  steps  on  to  the  stoep. 

He  removed  the  coat  from  his  shoulder  and 
handed  it  to  her  with  a  brief  smile. 

"  I  have  enjoyed  my  walk,"  he  said.  "  Thank 
you." 

"  Thank  you  for  taking  me,"  she  answered, 
conscious  of  the  curious  eyes  observing  her.  "  I 
have  enjoyed  it  also." 

Then  she  went  inside.  Hallam  waited  for  a 
minute  or  two  before  entering  the  hotel,  while 
the  people  on  the  stoep  watched  him,  puzzled 

78 


The  Stronger  Influence  79 

and  immensely  interested  in  these  proceedings. 
He  did  not  appear  to  notice  them  ;  and  presently 
he  went  in,  and  the  restraint  which  his  presence 
always  imposed  on  the  rest  relaxed  perceptibly. 

They  started  to  discuss  him,  to  deplore  his 
friendship  with  the  girl ;  they  pondered  the 
question  whether  it  was  the  particular  duty  of 
any  one  to  warn  her  against  pursuing  the  acquaint- 
ance :  every  one  thought  that  she  ought  to  be 
warned  ;  but  no  one  volunteered  to  undertake 
this  friendly  office  ;  they  were  all  a  little  in  awe 
of  the  man  of  whom  they  disapproved. 

Esme  went  to  her  room  with  the  intention  of 
remaining  there  and  writing  letters  until  lunch 
time.  She  was  tired  and  wanted  to  rest.  But 
while  she  sat  at  her  window  with  her  writing 
materials  on  her  knee  she  saw  Sinclair  approaching 
from  the  direction  of  the  garden  beyond  the  kei- 
apple  hedge.  She  remembered  that  he  wras  leaving 
that  morning.  The  early  walk,  and  her  pleasure 
in  it,  had  caused  her  to  forget. 

He  strolled  as  far  as  the  vley,  and  stood  by 
the  edge,  moodily  kicking  little  stones  into  the 
water.  He  looked  up  and  saw  her  at  the  window 
and  looked  away  again,  making  pretence  that 
he  did  not  know  she  was  there.  She  leaned  out 
and  spoke  to  him. 

"  Isn't  it  a  perfectly  wonderful  day  ?  "  she 
called  softly. 


8o  The  Stronger  Influence 

"  Is  it  ?  "  he  said,  and  came  towards  her  slowly, 
frowning,  and  with  his  hands  in  his  pockets. 
"  It's  much  like  any  other  day,  I  think." 

He  leaned  with  his  shoulder  against  the  wall 
of  the  house,  and  regarded  her  with  sulky  reproach 
as  she  sat  on  the  low  sill,  facing  him,  smiling  into 
the  hurt  boyish  eyes.  She  liked  him,  and  he 
was  going  away.  She  decided  to  ignore  his 
irritable  mood. 

"  It's  the  finish  of  your  holiday,"  she  said, 
"  and  you  are  sorry.  In  a  fortnight's  time  my 
holiday  will  have  ended.  I,  too,  shall  regret  leaving 
this  place." 

"It  is  not  the  place  I  mind  leaving ;  it's  dull 
enough,"  he  said  ungraciously.  "  There  is  nothing 
to  do  except  moon  around.  Where  did  you  have 
breakfast  this  morning  ?  ' 

"  At  a  little  house  along  the  road.  I  went  to 
see  the  sun  rise." 

"  It  is  possible  to  view  that  astronomical  pheno- 
menon from  your  bedroom  window,"  he  retorted 
disagreeably. 

"  I  dare  say  it  is.     But  I  wanted  the  walk." 

"  You  went  with  Hallam,  I  suppose  ?  '  he 
said.  And,  without  waiting  for  her  reply,  added  : 
"  I  think  you  might  have  remembered  that  it 
was  my  last  morning.  I  would  have  taken  you 
to  see  the  sun  rise  if  you  had  expressed  the  desire. 
I  counted  on  a  last  walk." 


The  Stronger  Influence  8 1 

"  I  walked  with  you  last  night,"  she  said, 
surprised  at  the  extravagance  of  his  demands. 

"  I  am  not  forgetting  that,"  he  said,  with  less 
aggression  in  his  manner.  "  But  my  last  morning. 
...  I  think  it  was  a  little  unkind.  There  will 
be  plenty  of  opportunities  for  sun-gazing  after  I 
have  gone.  I  am  full  up  with  things  I  want  to 
say  to  you,  and  you  seem  such  a  long  way  off, 
perched  up  there." 

She  laughed,  and  twisted  round  on  the  sill 
preparatory  to  alighting. 

"  Look  the  other  way  for  a  minute.  I'm  coming 
out." 

He  swung  round  with  a  pleased  smile,  and 
before  she  realized  what  he  was  about  he  had 
seized  her  by  the  waist  and  lifted  her  down. 
She  stood  on  the  grass  beside  him  and  surveyed 
him  with  amazed  eyes. 

"  Well !  "    she  said. 

"  It  was  by  far  the  easier  way/'  he  excused 
himself.  "  I  have  a  couple  of  chairs  fixed  up 
under  the  trees.  It's  jolly  and  cool  in  the  garden." 

He  led  her  to  the  spot  he  had  selected  and 
settled  her  in  one  of  the  two  canvas  chairs,  which 
faced  towards  a  little  arbour  covered  with  a  pale, 
cool-looking  creeper  with  long  sprays  of  minute 
white  blossoms  thrusting  out  between  the  leaves. 
The  chairs  had  been  placed  at  the  end  of  the 
roughly  made  path,  and  stood  side  by  side  with 


The  Stronger  Influence 


their  backs  towards  the  house.  Esme"  dropped 
into  one,  and  looked  about  her  with  lazy  satis- 
faction. It  was  restful  out  here  under  the  trees, 
and  strangely  quiet.  The  hum  of  the  bees  sounded 
reposeful  in  the  sunny  stillness.  She  felt  very 
tired,  and  was  glad  to  sit  still.  She  did  not 
want  to  talk.  But  it  was  not  possible  to  sit  in 
silence  with  this  man,  as  it  was  with  Hallam. 
The  necessity  to  make  conversation  was  impera- 
tive. It  surprised  and  puzzled  her  that  this  was  so. 

She  glanced  at  Sinclair  curiously,  and  discovered 
him,  with  his  face  turned  towards  her,  observing 
her  intently.  He  smiled  when  he  met  her  eyes 
with  their  curious  questioning  look  ;  his  own 
expressed  admiration,  and  something  more,  which 
he  strove  to  suppress. 

"  You  were  quite  right/'  he  said.  "It  is  a 
wonderful  day.  But  I  wish  you  had  not  dis- 
covered that  before  you  came  out  here.  I  didn't. 
It  seemed  to  me  this  morning  a  rotten  sort  of 
day  altogether.  I  wasn't  sure  even  that  I  should 
see  you  before  I  left.  I  have  just  half  an  hour. 
If  it  wasn't  for  the  thought  of  seeing  you  again 
at  the  other  end  I  should  feel  pretty  sick  at 
leaving.  I've  only  known  you  a  few  days  ;  but 
I  seem  to  have  known  you  for  quite  a  long  time. 
That's  odd,  isn't  it  ?  I've  enjoyed  the  last  of 
my  holiday  more  than  words  can  express." 

He    talked    quickly,    eagerly.     His    face    was 


The  Stronger  Influence  83 

flushed,  and  a  sort  of  boyish  shyness  showed  in 
his  eyes.  She  regarded  him  with  an  air  of  faint 
perplexity  and  said  nothing.  His  abrupt  confi- 
dences were  disconcerting. 

"  You  won't  forget  these  few  days  altogether, 
will  you  ?  '  he  urged. 

Her  composed  face,  her  air  of  increasing  sur- 
prise, damped  his  ardour  considerably.  The  light 
died  out  of  his  eyes. 

"  I  shan't  forget  a  single  day  of  all  the  days 
I  spend  here,"  she  replied,  not  knowing  that  she 
was  unkind,  not  meaning  to  be. 

She  was  not  thinking  of  Sinclair.  Her  apprecia- 
tion had  nothing  to  do  with  him.  She  was  review- 
ing her  earlier  impressions,  feeling  again  the  joy 
which  the  sense  of  beauty  gives ;  the  complete 
satisfaction  of  that  walk  towards  the  sunrise,  and 
the  magic  splendour  of  the  morning  when  the 
world  stirred  out  of  slumber,  dew-drenched  and 
asparkle  in  the  golden  radiance  of  the  newly 
risen  sun.  She  had  realized,  as  she  stepped 
confidently  forward  in  its  warmth,  the  wonder 
and  the  goodness  of  being  alive.  That  sense  of 
well-being  remained  with  her,  would  remain  with 
her  when  the  boy,  who  looked  to  her  for  a  response 
she  was  unable  to  make,  was  gone  down  the 
mountain  road  out  of  her  dream.  He  was  no 
part  of  the  dream  :  he  was  merely  a  transitory 
figure  flitting  through  the  gold-blue  mist. 


84  The  Stronger  Influence 

"  I  don't  know  what  it  is  about  the  place  which 
grips  me  so,  unless  it  is  that  it  is  unlike  any  place 
I've  ever  seen.  I  love  the  brooding  silence  and 
the  warmth  and  the  soft  mountain  air.  There  is 
health  in  every  breath  of  it.  Down  at  the  Bay 
the  winds  rend  one.  It's  all  heat  and  noise  and 
rush." 

"Oh!  the  Bay's  not  half  a  bad  place,"  he 
protested.  "  Most  people  at  the  beginning  of  a 
holiday  feel  as  you  do  ;  but  it  wears  off.  You 
will  be  jolly  well  bored  at  the  end  of  a  fortnight. 
Travelling  always  along  one  old  road  grows  mono- 
tonous. And  whichever  way  you  go  it's  the  same 
old  road.  You  may  strike  across  the  veld,  but 
sooner  or  later  you  have  to  come  back  to  the 
road." 

"  After  all," — she  looked  at  him  quickly,  — "  it 
isn't  monotony  that  bores  one  really.  We  like 
doing  the  familiar  thing." 

"  Not  necessarily,"  he  returned.  "  When  it  is 
a  case  of  returning  to  work,  the  familiar  thing 
becomes  a  nuisance.  I  wish  you  were  driving 
down  the  mountain  with  me.  Don't  come  out 
to  see  the  start.  I  don't  wish  you  to  make  one 
of  the  crowd.  I'm  going  to  say  good-bye  to  you 
here.  I  am  leaving  my  racquet  behind.  I  want 
you  to  use  it,  will  you  ?  I've  another  at  my 
digs,  so  you  needn't  feel  you  are  depriving  me. 
I  want  you  to  have  it." 


The  Stronger  Influence  85 

'  That's  very  kind  of  you,"  she  said,  touched 
by  this  act  of  generosity,  and  secretly  embarrassed. 
She  could  not  without  ungraciousness  refuse,  but 
she  wished  that  he  had  not  placed  her  under  this 
obligation. 

"  It  will  serve  to  pass  an  hour  or  two  when 
you  weary  of  the  same  old  road,"  he  said,  smiling. 

He  was  jealous  because  she  had  found  a  com- 
panion for  the  road ;  that  this  companion  did  not 
play  games  was  a  source  of  satisfaction  to  him. 

"  But  you  break  up  the  set  when  you  leave," 
she  said. 

'  We  played  three  before  you  arrived,"  he 
reminded  her.  '  When  you  get  back  to  the  Bay 
I'm  coming  in  sometimes  to  play  with  you  at  the 
Club  courts.  You're  a  member,  I  suppose  ?  ' 

She  nodded. 

"  Are  you  ?  " 

'  I  am  about  to  become  one,"  he  answered, 
with  an  amused  look  at  her  surprised  face.  "  I've 
thought  of  joining  often.  You  know  the  acquaint- 
ance isn't  going  to  end  here.  I  may  see  you 
again  ?  ' 

He  looked  at  her  with  great  earnestness,  and 
waited  with  such  obvious  anxiety  for  her  reply 
that  it  seemed  to  her  there  was  only  one  possible 
answer  to  his  question.  And  indeed  she  was  very 
willing  to  continue  a  friendship  which  had  been 
on  the  whole  agreeable. 


86  Ihc  Stronger  Influence 

"  I  should  be  sorry  if  I  thought  it  would  be 
otherwise,"  she  said,  with  kind  sincerity.  "  It 
would  seem  strange  not  to  meet,  seeing  that  we 
have  been  such  good  friends." 

"  Good  friends  !  '  he  repeated.  "  Yes  ;  we 
have  been  that.  .  .  .  Well,  that's  the  gist  of 
what  I  wanted  to  say.  When  I  travel  down  the 
mountain  I  shall  remember  your  words  and  your 
sweetness.  We  are  good  friends,  whose  friendship 
started  amid  the  heights." 

He  rose  from  his  seat.  She  looked  up  at  him 
with  eyes  that  held  a  wondering  interest  in  their 
look.  The  phrase  took  hold  of  her  imagination. 
Until  that  moment  he  had  always  seemed  just  a 
boy  to  her ;  but  in  that  moment  she  thought  of 
him  as  a  man,  with  a  man's  thoughts  and  a  man's 
feelings.  She  stood  up  a  little  shyly  and  gave 
him  her  hand. 

"  I  am  sorry  you  are  going  away,"  was  all  she 
said. 


The  Stronger  Influence 


DURING  the  days  which  followed  time  sped 
on  amber  wings.  It  sped  so  swiftly  that 
her  fortnight's  holiday  seemed  to  Esme  the  shortest 
fortnight  her  life  had  ever  known.  Oddly,  she 
did  not  realize  why  the  hours  were  so  mysteriously 
curtailed.  In  reality  her  days  were  longer  than 
usual ;  they  started  at  sunrise. 

This  practice  of  early  rising,  which  was  new  to 
her,  developed  into  a  daily  habit.  If  by  chance 
she  overslept,  as  she  did  occasionally,  her  day 
was  robbed  of  its  chief  pleasure — the  early  morn- 
ing walk  in  Hallam's  company.  He  never  waited 
for  her.  He  never  referred  to  her  absence  when 
she  failed  to  put  in  an  appearance  on  the  stoep 
at  the  time  he  came  out,  stick  in  hand,  ready  for 
his  walk.  But  he  always  looked  for  her ;  and 
when  he  saw  her  waiting  for  him  he  appeared 
pleased.  They  set  forth  together  as  a  matter  of 
course. 

He  grew  to  look  forward  to  her  companionship. 
His  manner  had  lost  its  rough  unsociability ;  he 
talked  to  her  readily.  Occasionally  he  left  the 

87 


The  Stronger  Influence 


seat,  which  had  come  by  tacit  recognition  to  be 
considered  especially  his,  for  a  chair  beside  hers 
on  the  stoep.  His  behaviour  excited  considerable 
surprise  and  comment  among  the  other  guests ; 
but  to  Esme  it  appeared  less  remarkable  than 
his  former  attitude  of  almost  hostile  aloofness. 
She  derived  a  quiet  happiness  from  his 
society. 

As  she  came  to  know  him  better  her  amazement 
at  his  weakness  grew  enormously.  That  a  man 
of  such  striking  personality,  possessed  of  consider- 
able will  power,  should  yield  himself  to  the  influence 
of  a  sordid  vice,  be  dominated  by  it,  surprised 
her  beyond  words.  It  was  the  one  thing  about 
him  which  she  hated.  It  was  ugly  and  inconsis- 
tent and  degrading.  She  never  saw  him  drink  ; 
he  took  nothing  but  milk  and  soda  with  his  meals. 
In  the  daytime  he  always  appeared  perfectly 
sober ;  but  at  night,  after  dinner,  it  was  his 
invariable  custom  to  disappear,  where  she  did 
not  know  ;  but  sometimes  she  heard  his  stumbling 
step  going  along  the  stoep  after  every  one  else 
was  in  bed.  She  would  lie  awake  and  listen  for 
these  sounds,  but  it  was  only  occasionally  she 
heard  him  go  unsteadily  to  his  room.  Then  her 
heart  would  beat  faster,  and  the  tears  would 
come  to  her  eyes,  and  always  she  offered  up  a 
prayer  for  him  in  the  quiet  darkness  of  her  little 
room.  Her  pity  for  him  and  her  liking  grew  like 


The  Stronger  Influence  89 

a  flower,  unconscious  of  its  expansion  as  it  opens 
to  the  sun. 

When  first  it  occurred  to  Esme  to  use  her 
influence  to  wean  Hallam  from  his  nightly  practice 
was  uncertain  ;  doubtless  her  desire  had  leaned 
that  way  from  the  beginning  of  their  acquaint- 
ance ;  but  it  was  not  until  she  was  well  into  the 
second  week  of  her  holiday  that  she  summoned 
up  sufficient  courage  one  evening  while  they  sat 
at  dinner  to  propose  that  he  should  accompany 
her  for  a  walk.  It  was  too  beautiful  a  night  to 
spend  indoors,  she  urged. 

The  man  hesitated.  She  believed  that  he  was 
going  to  refuse.  It  was  easy  to  see  that  her 
suggestion  was  not  acceptable  to  him.  It  took 
him  aback,  and  for  quite  an  appreciable  while 
he  did  not  reply  to  her.  Then  he  said,  somewhat 
brusquely : 

"  Have  you  not  had  walking  enough  for  one 
day  ?  " 

"  Come  and  sit  with  me  on  the  stoep,"  she  said, 
"  if  you  do  not  care  to  walk." 

Some  quality  in  her  voice,  something,  too,  in 
the  expression  of  her  face,  when  he  turned  his 
face  to  look  at  her,  arrested  his  attention.  He 
scrutinized  her  more  closely,  and  into  his  eyes, 
as  he  watched  her,  leapt  a  light  of  understanding. 

"  I  never  met  any  one  quite  so  indefatigable 
as  you,"  he  said.  "  If  you  really  desire  exercise, 


90  The  Stronger  Influence 

of  course  I'll  accompany  you.  There  will  be  a 
moon  to-night.  She  is  young,  but  she  will  serve 
our  purpose.  Why  do  you  want  to  walk  ?  ' 

The  question  was  jerked  out  abruptly.  There 
was  an  inflection  of  curiosity  in  his  tones.  Esme 
answered  quietly,  without  looking  at  him. 

"  I  suppose  because  I  feel  it  is  a  sin  to  remain 
indoors  on  such  a  night/ 

Had  not  her  eyes  been  averted  from  his  face 
she  must  have  seen  his  lips  compress  themselves 
at  her  words.  A  sort  of  hardness  came  into  his 
voice. 

"  Your  language  is  somewhat  exaggerated/'  he 
returned.  "  The  physical  benefit  is  more  obvious 
than  the  moral,  I  think.  However,  if  it  gives 
you  a  sense  of  righteousness,  so  much  the  better. 
I  will  lend  myself  readily  to  further  that  end. 
What  do  you  usually  do  in  the  evenings  ?  ' 

"  Sit  on  the  stoep  generally.  I  don't  care 
about  cards.  When  Mr.  Sinclair  was  here  we 
used  to  walk." 

"  Sinclair  ! — yes.  .  .  .  The  fellow  who  fancied 
he  possessed  all  the  virtues  because  he  had  not 
certain  vices.  You  must  miss  him." 

"  That  isn't  a  very  kind  description,"  she  said. 

"  I  was  not  trying  to  be  kind,"  he  answered. 
"  I  am  not  of  a  kindly  disposition.  You  may 
observe  that  I  do  not  lay  claim  to  any  of  the 
virtues.  It  is  safe  to  conclude  that  what  you 


The  Stronger  Influence  91 

don't  claim  will  never  be  conceded  to  you.  These 
facts  once  grasped  simplify  life  enormously.  But 
I  waste  time  in  attempting  to  teach  you  worldly 
wisdom.  You  live  in  a  world  of  illusions." 

He  spoke  very  little  during  the  remainder  of 
the  time  he  sat  at  table.  His  manner  was  pre- 
occupied, and  his  face  looked  grim.  Esme  felt 
that  he  regretted  having  yielded  to  her  request ; 
he  resented  interference  with  his  routine.  When 
he  rose  from  the  table,  which  he  did  before  any 
of  the  others,  he  turned  to  her  and  said  in  his 
curt  way  : 

"  Please  be  ready  in  half  an  hour  from  now." 

Then  he  pushed  his  chair  back  and  walked 
quickly  from  the  room. 

The  old  gentleman  on  her  right  asked  Esme 
to  make  a  fourth  at  bridge.  He  looked  dis- 
appointed when  she  declined.  She  explained  that 
she  was  going  for  a  walk. 

"It  is  good  to  be  young.  But  don't  overdo 
it,"  he  counselled. 

"  The  air  is  so  wonderful ;  I  am  never  tired  up 
here,"  she  replied. 

"  I  have  heard  that  said  of  the  air  in  other 
places,"  he  said,  and  smiled.  "  If  I  were  twenty 
years  younger  I  would  go  with  you." 

The  old  gentleman  was  not  on  the  stoep  to  see 
Esme  start  on  her  walk.  He  would  have  been 
astonished  equal! v  with  the  rest  who  viewed  her 


92  The  Stronger  Influence 

departure  to  see  Hallam  come  out  of  the  house 
and  join  her  and  walk  with  her  into  the  road. 
The  people  on  the  stoep  who  witnessed  these 
things,  wondered,  and  spoke  of  their  wonder  to 
one  another.  No  one  before  had  seen  Hallam  in 
the  evenings  after  he  left  the  dinner  table.  No 
one,  except  this  girl,  who  seemed  on  terms  of 
easy  friendliness  with  him,  ever  spoke  to  him. 
It  is  not  easy  to  talk  to  a  man  who  deliberately 
ignores  your  existence.  It  was  plain  that  he 
wanted  to  be  left  alone  :  yet  he  made  an  excep- 
tion in  favour  of  the  girl.  There  was  only  one 
construction  likely  to  be  placed  on  this  amazing 
preference.  And  so  the  people  at  the  hotel  looked 
after  the  disappearing  figures,  and  criticized  the 
growing  intimacy  between  the  man  and  girl  long 
after  they  had  vanished  from  sight  amid  the 
shadows  of  the  early  dusk. 

When  they  were  well  away  from  the  hotel 
Hallam  took  the  pipe  from  his  mouth  and  looked 
down  at  the  girl's  unconscious  face  and  smiled 
dryly.  He  wondered  whether  she  realized  that 
they  were  objects  of  curiosity  to  the  people  they 
had  left  behind,  whether,  if  she  did  realize  it,  it 
would  trouble  her  at  all  ?  Her  eyes,  lifted  to  his 
in  response  to  his  steady  scrutiny,  showed  darkly 
shadowed  in  the  uncertain  light ;  they  smiled 
frankly  up  at  him.  He  knew  while  he  gazed 
down  at  her  that  he  would  miss  her  when  she 


The  Stronger  Influence  93 

had  gone,  that  life  would  seem  emptier,  more 
purposeless,  than  before.  From  the  first  he  had 
realized  the  danger  of  the  acquaintance  ;  yet  he 
had  drifted  into  it  with  very  little  effort  to  evade 
the  danger.  He  had  not  made  the  advances,  but 
he  had  responded  to  them  ;  and  now  he  was 
regretting,  with  a  sense  of  bitter  futility,  the  folly 
of  allowing  her  to  become  a  significant  influence 
in  his  life.  He  could  not  end  the  thing  now  ; 
he  did  not  want  to  ;  her  companionship  had 
become  necessary  to  him. 

But  he  could  prevent  her  liking  for  him  from 
developing,  could,  if  he  chose,  crush  it  outright. 
To  crush  it  outright  was  perhaps  the  wiser  course. 

"  You  know/'  he  said  quietly,  "  those  people 
who  watched  us  away  are  deploring  your  indis- 
cretion in  associating  with  me.  I  am  not  resenting 
it.  They  are  perfectly  right.  I  am  not  a  desir- 
able companion  for  any  one.  Why  did  you  first 
speak  to  me  ?  Why  do  you  persist  in  the  acquaint- 
ance ?  I  often  wonder.  Don't  you  know  what 
I  am  ?  " 

"  Perhaps  I  do/'  she  answered  in  so  low  a 
voice  that,  but  for  the  stillness  of  the  night,  he 
would  scarce  have  heard  the  faltered  words.  "  I 
think  that  is  one  reason  why  I  spoke  to  you." 

"  You  mean,"  he  said,  "  that  you  were  sorry  ? 
That's  kind  of  you.  But  I  am  not  conscious  of 
needing  sympathy.  What  other  reason  had  you  ?  " 


94  The  Stronger  Influence 

"  Isn't  it  only  natural  to  talk  to  people  one 
meets  daily  ?  "  she  asked.  "  I  talk  to  every  one 
in  the  hotel." 

He  smiled. 

"  I  have  observed  that.  But  you  don't  walk 
with  them.  Why  did  you  insist  on  my  coming 
out  to-night  ?  " 

"  Oh  !  "  she  said,  and  felt  her  face  aflame,  and 
was  grateful  for  the  darkness  which  concealed  her 
confusion.  "  I  cannot  give  a  reason  for  every 
impulse  that  moves  me.  I  wanted  to  walk." 

"  Excuse  me  if  I  accuse  you  once  more  of 
insincerity,"  he  said.  "  It  was  no  impulse  that 
prompted  you  to  ask  me.  It  was  a  deliberate 
and  premeditated  request  which  cost  you  some 
effort  to  make.  Your  concern  for  me  is  very 
flattering.  But  you  waste  your  sympathy.  What 
do  you  imagine  you  accomplish  by  this  display 
of  energy  ?  You  will  overtire  yourself,  that  is 
all.  For  me,  it  is  merely  a  long  time  between 
drinks." 

Tears  came  into  her  eyes.  She  hoped  he  did 
not  see  them,  but  she  could  not  have  kept  them 
back.  He  hurt  her  even  more  than  he  intended 
to. 

"  I  don't  care,"  she  said,  a  little  unsteadily, 
"  how  hard  you  box  my  ears.  I  am  glad  I  asked 
you  to  come.  I'm  glad  you  came."  She  raised 
her  face  suddenly  and  lifted  defiant  eyes  to  his 


The  Stronger  Influence  95 

"  I  am  sorry  I  was  insincere.  You  got  me  there. 
I  didn't  know  you  were  so  observant.  In  future 
I'll  be  absolutely  frank  with  you.  I'll  be  frank 
now,  even  if  it  angers  you.  I  asked  you  to  come 
out  because  I  think  it  is  a  shame  for  you  to  spend 
your  evenings  as  you  do.  I  think  it  is  a  shame 
that  you  should  waste  your  life.  I'm  not  so 
much  sorry  for  you  as  savage  with  you.  It's 
hateful  in  you.  It's  the  one  thing  which  spoils 
you  from  being  absolutely  fine." 

She  broke  off  abruptly,  startled  at  her  own 
vehemence,  immensely  embarrassed,  and  horrified 
with  herself.  The  man  was  staring  at  her,  staring 
in  amazement,  incredulous  and  almost  bewildered 
by  the  surprising  rush  of  words.  He  had  never 
in  his  life  been  so  thunderstruck,  nor  had  he 
ever  before  listened  to  such  plain  speaking.  He 
was  silent  in  face  of  this  retort  for  which  he  had 
been  in  no  sense  prepared. 

"  Oh,  dear  !  '  she  exclaimed,  aghast  at  her 
own  daring.  '  What  must  you  think  of  me  ?  I 
never  meant  to  attack  you  like  this.  It's — 
abominable." 

"  Whatever  I  think  of  you,"  he  answered,  "  I 
can  never  again  call  you  insincere.  You  have 
hurled  truths  at  me  to-night.  You  were  quite 
right  in  everything  you  said  ;  but — forgive  me — 
you  were  quite  wrong  in  saying  them.  However, 
largely  that's  my  own  fault  for  provoking  you. 


96  The  Stronger  Influence 

It  was  inconsiderate  to  push  my  inquiries ;  it 
would  be  illogical  if  I  complained  because  you 
answered  them.  We'll  wipe  the  incident  out. 
At  least  we  understand  one  another.  In  future, 
when  I  see  you  making  your  social  effort,  I  shall 
recognize  that  you  are  started  on  your  morality 
campaign." 

"  Please  don't/'  she  said  falteringly,  with  a 
catch  so  suggestive  of  repressed  emotion  in  her 
tones  that  he  repented  the  ill-nature  of  his  words. 

He  glanced  down  at  her  as  she  walked  beside 
him  along  the  dim  road,  hatless,  with  the  soft 
hair  shading  her  partly  averted  face  ;  then  he 
straightened  his  stooping  shoulders  with  a  jerk, 
and  looked  about  him  at  the  darkening  landscape, 
and  up  at  the  sky,  where  the  young  moon  rode 
serenely  in  a  star-strewn  cloudless  sky.  It  was  a 
fine  night,  warm  and  still ;  the  wan  moonlight 
pierced  the  dusk  palely,  revealing  the  road  cutting 
like  a  path  of  silver  across  the  velvety  darkness  of 
the  veld. 

Some  softening  quality  in  the  quiet  beauty  of 
the  night,  or  it  may  have  been  in  the  sight  of 
the  partly  turned  face,  with  its  look  of  hurt  dis- 
tress, penetrated  the  man's  consciousness.  His 
mood  changed ;  a  kinder  note  banished  the 
harshness  from  his  voice.  He  had  wounded  her 
deliberately,  and  he  regretted  it. 

"  I'm  a  brute,"  he  said  in  altered  tones.     "  Don't 


The  Stronger  Influence  97 

heed  my  roughness  ;    it  is  not  meant.     I  had  no 
wish  to  offend." 

'You  did  not  offend/'   she  answered.     "But 
I  am  afraid  that  I  did." 

"  No,"  he  said,  but  without  conviction,  she 
thought.  "  I  asked  for  truth,  and  I  got  it.  Per- 
haps that  is  what  surprised  me.  The  last  thing 
a  man  expects  to  hear  is  the  truth  about  himself. 
I  didn't  credit  you  with  the  possession  of  so  much 
courage." 

"  It  has  all  evaporated,"  she  said. 

"  The  courage  !  "  he  laughed.  "  Oh  !  I  think 
not.  It  has  merely  gone  under  for  the  time." 

And  then  he  turned  the  conversation,  and 
closed  the  matter,  as  she  felt,  finally.  She  had 
no  means  of  knowing  whether  his  resentment  of 
her  plain  speaking  still  rankled.  A  sort  of  con- 
straint had  fallen  between  them.  She  felt  self- 
conscious,  and  rather  like  a  child  who  has  been 
rebuked.  But  she  did  not  regret  having  spoken 
as  she  had  done.  The  barriers  of  pretence  were 
down  ;  there  existed  a  clear  understanding  between 
them.  As  she  walked  rather  silently  with  him  in 
the  moonlight  she  resolved  that  on  the  morrow 
she  would  invite  him  to  accompany  her  again. 


Stronger  Influence  XI 

THAT  walk  by  the  ineffectual  light  of  a  young 
moon  brought  about  a  significant  change 
in  the  relations  between  the  man  and  girl.  The 
last  reserves  were  swept  away.  The  sweeping 
had  been  drastic  ;  it  left  not  so  much  as  a  shadow 
of  doubt  in  the  mind  of  each  in  regard  to  the 
other.  They  were  profoundly  interested  in  one 
another,  with  an  interest  which  struck  deeper 
than  the  repugnances  which  both  were  conscious 
existed.  The  girl  liked  the  man  and  was  horrified 
at  his  weakness ;  the  man  liked  the  girl  and 
resented  her  interference  :  their  mutual  regard 
was  stronger  than  their  antagonism. 

The  people  at  the  hotel  watched  the  develop- 
ment of  the  friendship  distrustfully.  They  did 
not  approve  of  the  man.  All  they  knew  of  him 
was  to  his  discredit.  The  general  opinion  was 
that  it  was  well  the  girl  was  leaving  so  soon. 

'  You  appear  to  be  great  friends  with  Mr. 
Hallam,"  the  old  lady  who  was  nervous  of  the 
mountain  road  observed  one  day  to  Esme. 
"  What  a  terrible  thing  it  is  to  see  a  young  man 

96 


The  Stronger  Influence  99 

deliberately  making  wreck  of  his  life.     Don't  you 
think  so  ?  " 

"  I  do,"  Esme  answered  gravely.  "  One  day  he 
will  come  to  think  so  too  ;  and  then  he  will  change." 

The  old  lady  shook  her  head. 

"  I  should  doubt  it  very  strongly,"  she  said. 
She  considered  it  regrettable  that  the  girl  should 
cherish  hopes  of  so  improbable  a  reform. 

'  There  is  nothing  that  the  human  will  cannot 
accomplish,  when  the  will  to  accomplish  a  thing 
is  strong  enough,"  Esme  said  with  quiet  con- 
viction. 

"  You  think  that  ?  " 

"  I  am  sure  of  it." 

1  Then,  why  does  not  Mr.  Hallam  make  some 
effort  to  overcome  his  failing  ?  " 

"  I  suppose  because  he  has  not  felt  a  sufficiently 
strong  incentive.  It  is  difficult  to  understand 
these  things.  But  I  cannot  help  believing  he  will 
make  good." 

The  old  lady  was  manifestly  unconvinced ; 
but  Esm6's  faith  remained  unshaken.  She 
believed  in  the  eventual  triumph  of  Hallam's 
better  nature.  The  man  was  not  insensible  of 
her  faith  in  him.  Her  influence  over  him  was 
stronger  than  either  of  them  realized.  Each  day 
he  felt  his  interest  in  her  deepening ;  but  it  was 
not  until  her  visit  came  to  the  finish  that  he  knew 
exactly  what  her  friendship  meant  to  him. 


ioo  The  Stronger  Influence 

On  the  last  morning  when  they  sat  at  breakfast, 
and  the  talk  turned  naturally  to  the  journey 
down  the  mountain,  it  came  to  him  with  unplea- 
sant clearness  that  he  was  going  to  miss  her  very 
much.  He  saw  the  regret  in  her  eyes  at  the 
thought  of  going  away,  and  he  knew  that  a  similar 
regret  was  in  his  heart.  They  had  come  to  the 
parting  of  the  ways,  and  neither  wished  to  part. 

"  Can't  you  stay  a  little  longer  ?  "  he  asked 
her.  But  she  shook  her  head  and  answered  no. 

"  I  hate  these  comings  and  goings,"  he  said 
gruffly  ;  "  they  make  life  uncomfortable." 

"  I  loved  the  coming,"  she  replied  softly ; 
"  but  I  hate  going.  I  have  been  happy  here." 

"  I  expect  you  are  happy  anywhere,"  he  said. 
And  she  laughed,  but  she  did  not  answer  him. 
"  I  shall  miss  our  walks,"  he  added. 

"I  shall  miss  them  to,"  she  replied.  "I 
shall  miss  many  things.  One  day  I  shall  come 
up  here  again." 

"  WiU  you  ?  "  He  looked  surprised.  "  I  shall 
not  do  that  after  I  go  away.  To  revisit  a  familiar 
spot  is  like  walking  among  tombstones.  Each 
point  recalls  a  memory,  and  memory  belongs  to 
the  past." 

"  But  when  one's  memories  are  pleasant,"  she 
argued,  "it  is  good  to  recall  them." 

'  They  come  back  to  us  with  the  dust  on  them," 
he  insisted.     "It  is  more  comfortable  to  live  in 


The  Stronger  Influence  101 

the  present.  You'll  forget  the  Zuurberg  when 
you  are  back  in  the  town.  You'll  be  engrossed 
with  other  matters.  You'll  forget." 

"  Not  one  hour,"  she  breathed  softly.  "  I'll 
forget  nothing.  Will  you  ?  " 

He  laughed  bitterly. 

"  Life  is  not  so  full  of  pleasant  things  that  I 
can  afford  to  bury  in  oblivion  the  pleasantest 
that  has  happened  to  me,"  he  said.  "  When 
you  drive  down  the  mountain  to-day,  I  will  go 
with  you  and  see  you  on  your  way." 

If  anything  could  have  given  her  pleasure  at 
leaving  it  was  this  resolve  on  Hallam's  part  to 
drive  with  her  down  the  mountain  road.  His 
accompanying  her  gave  to  the  excursion  an  air 
of  adventure  and  decreased  the  sense  of  parting. 
It  was  not,  she  found  when  she  came  to  say  good- 
bye to  the  little  group  of  people  assembled  on  the 
stoep  to  watch  the  departure  of  the  cart,  these 
general  leave-takings  which  were  distressing ; 
nor  did  it  concern  her  to  turn  her  back  on  the 
hotel  on  the  veld ;  the  real  parting  was  to 
follow,  but  for  the  moment  that  did  not  weigh 
with  her.  Her  holiday  was  not  yet  at  an  end. 

There  were  other  passengers  for  the  journey 
besides  themselves.  Hallam  waited  until  these 
had  taken  their  seats  in  the  back  ;  then  he  helped 
the  girl  up  to  the  front  seat  next  the  driver,  and, 
to  the  amazement  of  the  beholders,  got  up  after 


IO2  The  Stronger  Influence 

her  and  sat  down  by  her  side.  They  concluded 
that  he  was  leaving  also ;  it  did  not  occur  to 
any  one  to  suppose  that  he  was  going  to  see  the 
girl  off  by  the  train  and  would  return  that  even- 
ing. An  act  of  such  supererogatory  courtesy 
was  not  expected  of  him. 

The  horses  started,  and  the  cart  swung  along 
with  its  load  of  passengers  and  luggage,  travelling 
at  a  good  pace  along  the  hard  smooth  road. 
Esm6  leaned  back  in  her  seat  and  looked  about 
her  with  happy  appreciative  eyes.  On  the  up- 
ward journey  she  had  longed  for  a  companion 
to  share  her  joy  in  the  scenery.  She  recalled 
her  first  impressions,  as  she  drove  now  with 
Hallam  beside  her.  She  had  been  very  tired 
on  that  occasion,  eye  and  brain  both  had  been 
weary.  To-day  she  felt  surprisingly  well  and 
very  alert.  The  air,  the  movement,  the  strong 
light,  all  added  to  her  sense  of  enjoyment ;  and 
the  presence  of  the  man  beside  her,  his  nearness, 
his  unobtrusive  care  of  her,  his  interest  in  all 
which  int crested  her,  made  the  return  journey 
Infinitely  more  wonderful  than  the  journey  up 
the  mountain  had  seemed.  She  felt  extra- 
ordinarily happy.  And  yet  she  was  going  away. 
Soon  she  and  her  companion  would  be  parted. 
It  might  be  that  she  would  never  see  him  after 
that  day.  But  she  could  not  realize  these  things. 
She  felt  him  beside  her,  heard  his  voice  speaking 


The  Stronger  Influence  103 

to  her  against  the  mountain  wind  which  blew 
across  them,  saw  the  kindness  in  the  keen  eyes 
when  he  turned  his  head  to  look  at  her  and  mark 
her  appreciation  of  some  beauty  along  the  route  ; 
and  she  knew  that  he  mattered  to  her  tremen- 
dously ;  that  her  feeling  for  him  was  a  real  and 
profoundly  significant  emotion,  something  which 
had  sprung  to  life  suddenly,  which  would  go  on 
growing  in  her  heart  after  they  had  separated 
and  gone  their  different  ways. 

This  was  the  thing  which  had  happened  to  her. 
She  had  looked  for  something  to  happen,  but  she 
had  not  dreamed  it  would  be  anything  like  this. 

She  fell  to  wondering  how  she  would  feel  when 
they  came  to  say  good-bye,  whether  she  would 
realize  the  parting  and  feel  lonely,  whether  her 
face  would  betray  her  regret  ?  Whether  he 
would  see  and  understand  ?  .  .  . 

The  journey  down  occupied  considerably  less 
time  than  the  journey  up  had  done  ;  everything 
seemed  to  lend  itself  to  speed  her  departure. 
But  at  Coerney  there  was  a  wait  before  the  train 
came  in.  Hallam  took  her  to  the  hotel  and 
ordered  refreshments,  and  afterwards  they  went 
and  sat  in  the  shade  of  the  trees  and  talked  away 
their  last  minutes  together.  She  felt  that  she 
would  have  liked  to  prolong  that  talk  indefinitely  ; 
and  the  minutes  slipped  away  so  fast. 

"  It  was  nice  of  you  to  come,"  she  said.     "  I 


104  The  Stronger  Influence 

should  be  feeling  horribly  lonely  now  if  I  had  had 
this  wait  alone." 

"  The  train's  late/'  he  said.  "  God  bless  the 
lack  of  unpunctuality.  I've  half  a  mind  to  go 
with  you.  I  don't  know  why  I  don't  go.  I 
don't  know  why  I  stay  on  in  a  God-forsaken  hole 
on  the  top  of  a  mountain  which  leads  nowhere. 
Do  you  ?  " 

She  laughed. 

"  I  suppose  you  like  it,"  she  said.  "  And  the 
air  is  fine." 

"  A  man  can't  live  on  air." 

"  But  you  don't  live  there,"  she  said.  For 
the  first  time  it  occurred  to  her  that  she  did  not 
know  where  he  lived ;  she  knew  surprisingly 
little  about  him. 

"  I  don't  live  anywhere ;    I  drift,"  he  said. 

He  met  her  eyes  and  read  the  curiosity  in  them, 
their  unspoken  criticism,  and  smiled.  But  he 
did  not  give  her  any  information.  He  started 
to  talk  again  on  impersonal  matters,  while  she 
looked  away  into  the  green  tangle  of  the  trees  and 
wondered  about  him. 

On  the  way  to  the  station  he  gave  her  a  book, 
which  he  took  from  his  pocket  and  handed  to 
her  with  the  remark  that  it  would  relieve  the 
tedium  of  the  train  journey.  She  read  the  title, 
"  David  Harum,"  and  flushed  with  pleasure  as 
she  thanked  him. 


The  Stronger  Influence  105 

"  I  hope  you  will  like  it,"  he  said.  "  I  have 
found  him  a  good  companion." 

He  discovered  an  empty  compartment  and 
settled  her  in  it  and  stood  by  the  door.  She 
leaned  from  the  window,  with  her  arms  on  it, 
and  looked  down  at  him.  earnestly,  intently, 
with  the  light  of  unsaid  things  shining  in  her 
eyes. 

"  I  hate  going,"  she  said. 

"  I  know.     Partings  are  beastly  things." 

But  he  said  nothing  to  lead  her  to  hope  that 
this  parting  was  not  final ;  no  intimation  of  it 
being  otherwise  entered  his  thoughts. 

'  To-morrow,"  he  said,  "  I  shall  go  alone  to 
watch  the  sunrise." 

A  little  wistful  smile  curved  her  lips. 

"  I  shall  think  of  you,"  she  said. 

"  I  shall  probably  have  you  in  my  thoughts," 
he  replied,  and  smiled  also.  '  We  have  spent 
some  pleasant  times  together." 

She  leaned  further  out  and  held  out  a  hand 
to  him  as  the  train  was  about  to  start.  He  took 
it  and  pressed  it  warmly. 

'  Thank  you  for  your  kindness  to  me,"  she 
said  simply. 

'  Thank  you  for  your  bright  companionship," 
he  returned,  and  the  regret  he  felt  at  parting 
crept  into  his  voice. 

He  released  her  hand  and  stood  back  while 


io6  The  Stronger  Influence 

the  train  moved  slowly  out  of  the  station.  The 
girl,  leaning  from  the  open  window,  saw  the  tall 
stooping  figure  on  the  platform,  with  face  turned 
towards  her,  until  she  drew  back  suddenly  and 
sat  down  in  the  corner  seat,  a  feeling  of  great 
loneliness  in  her  heart,  and  in  her  eyes  the  bright- 
ness of  unshed  tears.  She  took  up  the  book  he 
had  given  her,  and  opened  it,  and  read  on  the 
fly-leaf  his  name,  written  in  small,  unsteady 
characters, — Paul  Hallam. 

She  sat  with  the  book  open  in  her  lap,  gazing 
at  his  name. 


Book  II 

The  Stronger  Influence  XII 

ESME  LESTER  lived  with  a  married  sister 
at  Port  Elizabeth  in  a  little  house  in 
Havelock  Street.  Her  brother-in-law  was  junior 
partner  in  a  store  which  was  not  a  particularly 
flourishing  concern,  and  the  family  finances  were 
generally  at  low  ebb.  There  were  two  children, 
a  boy  and  a  girl,  named  respectively  John  and 
Mary.  When  the  family  were  all  at  home  the 
little  house  seemed  full  to  overflowing. 

Esme  had  a  tiny  bedroom  at  the  back,  over- 
looking a  cemented  yard.  There  was  one  beauty 
in  this  yard,  a  huge  oleander  tree,  the  dark  green 
leaves  of  which  and  the  clusters  of  sweet-scented 
pink  blossoms  reared  themselves  against  her 
window  and  shaded  and  perfumed  her  little 
room.  If  the  oleander  had  been  stricken  by 
drought,  or  any  other  mischance  had  befallen  it 
to  cause  it  to  die,  the  house  would  have  been 
onbearable  to  the  girl.  As  it  was,  the  oleander 
made  life  possible,  even  when  the  children  were 

107 


io8  The  Stronger  Influence 

troublesome,  and  when  her  sister  and  her  husband 
quarrelled.  They  quarrelled  frequently ;  over 
the  children,  over  the  housekeeping  expenses, 
over  the  lack  of  money.  Lack  of  money  was 
the  principal  grievance. 

Esme  boarded  with  them,  because  it  seemed 
more  natural  to  stay  with  her  own  people  than 
with  strangers,  and  because  her  sister  liked  to 
have  her.  But  she  was  not  fond  of  her  brother- 
in-law  ;  and  the  constant  disagreements  worried 
her. 

It  seemed  to  her,  when  she  entered  the  house 
after  her  pleasant  holiday,  that  she  had  left  all 
the  peace  and  romance  behind  and  returned  to 
the  drab  reality  of  the  common  daily  round. 
Her  sister  welcomed  her  with  restrained  pleasure, 
but  the  children  hung  about  her  in  unqualified 
delight,  bubbling  over  in  childish  fashion  with 
excitement  at  her  return. 

'  You  are  looking  well,"  her  sister  remarked. 
"  I  wish  I  could  take  a  holiday.  Single  girls 
don't  realize  how  lucky  they  are  until  after  they 
are  married.  Jim  and  I  spent  our  honeymoon 
at  the  Zuurberg.  I  thought  it  dull." 

Esme  reflected,  while  she  regarded  her  sister 
with  a  puzzled  scrutiny,  that  it  was  scarcely 
surprising  her  marriage  had  proved  on  the  whole 
a  disappointing  affair.  To  feel  dull  on  one's 
honeymoon  is  not  a  promising  beginning. 


The  Stronger  Influence  109 

"  I  thought  it  wonderful,"  she  said. 

'  You  had  a  good  time,  I  suppose.  Were  there 
many  people  there  ?  " 

"  A  fair  number.  But  it's  the  place  itself. 
It  is  lovely." 

Mrs.  Bainbridge  looked  unconvinced. 

"  People,  not  places,  make  a  holiday  enjoy- 
able," she  said  with  a  certain  worldly  wisdom 
which  jarred  on  her  hearer.  '  Were  there  any 
men  there  ?  " 

"  A  few— yes." 

Her  sister  laughed. 

'  You  always  get  on  with  men,"  she  said.  "  I 
wonder  you  don't  marry." 

"  But,  according  to  your  view,  that  would  be 
a  mistake." 

"  Not  if  the  man  were  well  off.  It  is  having 
to  cheese-pare  that  makes  the  shoe  pinch. 
Marriage  has  its  compensations."  Her  gaze 
rested  reflectively  on  the  children.  "  One  grum- 
bles," she  said  ;  "  but  one  wouldn't  undo  all  of  it." 

"  I'm  never  going  to  marry,"  John,  aged  eight, 
announced  with  sturdy  determination.  "  I've 
seen  too  much  of  it." 

His  mother  laughed,  and  Esme  caught  him 
up  and  kissed  him. 

"  That's  for  you,  you  stony-hearted  little 
misogynist,"  she  said,  as  he  struggled  to  elude 
her  embrace. 


no  Thf  Stronger  Influence 

"  John's  a  silly  kid,"  Mary,  his  senior  by  two 
years,  announced  in  the  crushing  tones  of  a  person 
who  resents  a  slight  to  her  sex. 

John  freed  himself  from  his  aunt's  detaining 
hold  in  order  to  vindicate  his  insulted  manhood  ; 
and  Esme  left  them  to  their  scuffling  and  went 
upstairs  to  unpack. 

When  she  came  down  again  her  brother-in-law 
had  come  home.  He  sat  by  the  window  smoking 
his  pipe,  but  he  rose  when  she  entered  and 
came  forward  and  kissed  her.  He  was  a  heavily- 
built,  good-looking  man,  with  a  boisterous  geni- 
ality of  manner  which  worried  his  sister-in-law. 
Oddly,  he  never  realized  her  objection.  He 
liked  her  and  laboured  under  the  delusion  that 
she  reciprocated  his  affection.  He  kissed  her 
heartily. 

"  Glad  to  see  you  back,  old  girl,"  he  said,  and 
reseated  himself  in  the  only  comfortable  chair 
in  the  room  and  resumed  his  pipe.  "  You  look 
very  fit.  I  told  Rose  the  Zuurberg  would  set 
you  up  ;  but  she  won't  hear  a  good  word  for  it. 
There  isn't  much  to  do  up  there,  certainly,  but 
loaf  around.  The  drive  up,  though,  is  all  right. 
Pretty— isn't  it  ?  " 

She  laughed,  to  his  puzzled  surprise.  She 
often  surprised  him  by  the  way  in  which  she 
received  his  remarks.  He  had  said  nothing  to 
cause  her  merriment.  But  he  preferred  smiling 


The  Stronger  Influence  III 

faces  to  glum  looks,  and  so  he  did  not  resent  it 
when  she  laughed  at  nothing. 

"  I  suppose  loafing  around  was  what  I  needed," 
she  said,  steering  clear  of  a  discussion  on  the 
scenery.  '  Living  in  the  open  air  with  nothing 
to  do  is  a  fine  tonic." 

"  Yes,"  he  agreed.  "  I'd  like  a  little  of  that 
myself.  A  man  who  spends  all  his  days  in  an 
office  ought  to  get  away  now  and  again  ;  but 
when  it  comes  to  carting  a  wife  and  kids  around 
with  one  it  makes  an  expensive  business  of  it. 
Rose  ought  to  see  that  a  man  needs  change  from 
his  work." 

'  We  are  most  of  us  short-sighted  where  the 
needs  of  other  people  are  concerned,"  she  returned 
with  an  ambiguity  which  he  did  not  suspect. 
"  1  suppose  it  would  be  rather  nice  if  I  remem- 
bered that  Rose  hasn't  had  a  holiday  and  went 
out  to  help  her  with  the  preparations  for  your 
evening  meal." 

"  Rot !  "  he  ejaculated,  unperceiving  the  drift 
of  her  reflections.  '  You  finish  out  your  holiday 
and  sit  down  and  talk  to  me." 

But  she  elected  to  go  hi  quest  of  her  sister, 
who  was  busy  in  the  kitchen,  aided  by  an  incom- 
petent Kaffir  girl  of  an  amiable  disposition,  which 
revealed  itself  in  the  broad  smile  she  gave  the 
young  missis  when  she  appeared  in  the  bright, 
hot  little  kitchen,  which  looked  out,  as  her  bed- 


112  The  Stronger  Influence 

room  looked  out,  on  the  white  yard  shaded  by  the 
big  oleander  tree  beneath  which  the  children  played 
happily  in  their  cramped  but  secure  playground. 

It  was  a  home-like,  pleasant  enough  picture  ; 
but  the  girl's  thoughts  strayed  persistently  to 
the  green  open  spaces,  and  the  pleasant  ease  of 
the  life  she  had  left  behind  her.  She  felt  a  new 
dissatisfaction  with  her  present  surroundings. 

"  Can  I  help  ?  "  she  asked. 

Her  sister  turned  round  from  the  stove  with 
flushed  preoccupied  face  to  stare  at  her. 

"  In  that  dress  !  Goodness  !  no.  Besides,  it's 
all  ready — or  ought  to  be.  But  Maggie  won't 
keep  a  good  fire." 

Maggie  promptly  came  forward  and  fed  the 
voracious  little  stove  with  a  fresh  supply  of  logs. 

"  This  stove  eat  wood.  Missis  should  see.  I 
put  plenty  logs  on." 

"  She's  right,  you  know,"  Rose  said,  stepping 
back,  and  pushing  the  hair  from  her  face.  "  Jim 
ought  to  buy  a  new  stove.  He'd  save  money 
on  it  in  the  long  run.  But  he  hasn't  the  cooking 
to  do  ;  he  merely  grumbles  when  he  has  to  order 
the  wood.  Is  the  table  laid,  Maggie  ?  Then 
you  can  begin  to  dish  up." 

She  put  a  hand  through  her  sister's  arm  and 
drew  her  out  to  the  doorstep,  where  they  stood 
watching  the  children,  both  a  little  silent  and 
thoughtful  in  mood. 


Stronger  Influence  113 


"  Aren't  you  hating  it,  being  back  again  ?  fj 
Rose  asked  presently,  and  bent  a  keen  look  on 
her  young  sister's  face.  Esme  looked  up  to 
smile. 

"  I  suppose  one  always  feels  a  little  regretful 
at  the  finish  of  a  holiday,"  she  said.  "  But  of 
course  I  don't  hate  being  back." 

Rose  did  not  press  the  point.  Something  in 
the  girl's  manner,  something  even  in  the  reticence 
she  betrayed  in  speaking  of  her  holiday,  puzzled 
her.  Esme  was  usually  more  expansive.  She 
did  not  seem  to  wish  to  talk  of  her  experiences. 
Perhaps,  after  all,  she  had  had  a  disappointing 
time.  But  the  rest  and  the  change  had  given 
her  back  her  strength.  Had  it  ?  Rose  looked 
at  her  again  more  attentively.  She  appeared  to 
be  in  excellent  health  ;  but  she  had  lost  her  old 
gaiety  ;  she  seemed  depressed. 

'  You  are  tired  after  the  journey,"  she  said. 
"  Come  on  in  and  have  something  to  eat." 

She  called  the  children  away  from  their  play  ; 
and  they  all  went  into  the  little  dining-room  and 
sat,  crowded  uncomfortably,  round  the  small 
table. 

Jim  served  the  food,  and  was  jocular  and  deter- 
minedly cheerful.  He  was  pleased  to  have  his 
sister-in-law  home  again.  It  was  all  rather  noisy 
and  uncomfortable.  The  girl's  thoughts  strayed 
to  the  long  shady  room  at  the  Zuurberg,  and  to 

8 


114  The  Stronger  Influence 

the  silent  companionship  of  the  man  whose  pres- 
ence she  was  missing  more  than  she  would  have 
thought  possible.  And  it  was  only  a  few  hours 
since  they  had  parted.  There  would  follow  many 
hours,  many  days,  many  weeks.  She  wondered 
whether  she  would  miss  him  less  as  the  days 
went  by,  or  if  this  intolerable  loneliness  would 
grow.  It  was  distressing  to  think  that  she 
might  never  see  him  again.  She  wondered  also 
whether  he  missed  her.  She  hoped  he  did.  And 
then  she  fell  to  picturing  him  reverting  perhaps 
to  the  old  evening  practice  of  drinking  steadily, 
until  finally  he  stumbled  along  the  stoep  on  his 
way  to  bed.  .  .  .  Surely  not  that !  If  her 
friendship  counted  for  anything  at  all  in  his  life 
its  influence  would  linger  with  him  and  have 
some  deterrent  effect. 

"  Sling  along  the  Adam's  ale,  old  girl,"  said 
Jim  at  this  point  in  her  reverie.  It  was  one  of 
his  boasts  that  he  didn't  pour  his  money  down 
his  throat. 

Esme  passed  him  the  water-bottle  and  roused 
herself  with  an  effort  and  joined  in  the  general 
talk.  The  meal  seemed  interminable.  The  chil- 
dren were  excited  and  noisy  ;  they  dawdled  over 
their  food.  Their  mother  urged  them  to  be 
quicker,  and  their  father  defeated  her  authority 
by  insisting  that  the  slower  they  ate  the  better 
for  their  digestions.  Husband  and  wife  had  a 


The  Stronger  Influence  115 

wordy  argument  on  this  point.  The  children 
ceased  eating  to  listen,  on  perceiving  which  their 
father  vented  his  annoyance  on  them  and  sent 
them  away  from  the  table. 

'  That's  your  fault,"  he  said  to  his  wife.  '  You 
are  always  nagging  at  the  kids.  We  never  get 
a  meal  in  peace." 

Esme  listened  and  wondered.  What  was 
wrong  with  this  household  ?  These  two  were 
quite  fond  of  each  other,  and  fond  of  the  children  ; 
yet  they  were  seldom  in  agreement  on  any  sub- 
ject. She  wondered  whether  all  married  people 
got  on  one  another's  nerves.  Marriage  was  a 
difficult  problem.  It  occurred  to  Esme  that  thf 
solution  of  the  difficulty  might  be  reached  by  \i 
generous  use  of  tact.  Without  her  volition  hei 
reflections  found  verbal  expression. 

'  Tact !  "  she  observed  aloud  to  the  astonish- 
ment of  her  hearers.  '  That's  the  secret  of 
happiness — 'immense  tact.  Jim,  I  think  you  are 
the  most  tactless  person  in  the  world." 


The  Stronger  Influence  XIII 

DURING  the  first  few  days  after  her  return 
to  her  sister's  home  time  hung  dismally 
for  Esme.  It  would  have  been  better  had  she 
gone  back  to  work  immediately ;  but  there  was 
a  full  week  to  term  time,  and  during  that  week 
she  found  nothing  sufficiently  interesting  to  dis- 
tract her  thoughts  from  the  desolating  fact  that 
she  missed  something  out  of  her  life.  Her  world 
was  like  a  world  without  sunshine,  flat  and 
colourless,  a  place  of  neutral  tints  and  drab 
impressions.  She  hated  the  house,  she  hated 
going  out ;  most  of  all,  she  hated  the  people 
who  visited  her  sister  and  gossiped  over  tea  of 
every  trivial  matter  in  the  common  daily  round. 
Those  afternoon  gatherings  gave  her  mental 
indigestion.  Yet  at  one  time  these  things  had 
seemed  pleasant  and  natural.  The  inference  was 
that  there  was  something  wrong  with  herself. 

Her  sister  laid  a  hand  on  her  secret  very  soon 
after  her  return.  She  had  gone  into  Esme's 
room  and  taken  up  a  book,  which  lay  on  the 
little  table  beside  her  bed,  and  opened  it  casually. 

116 


The  Stronger  Influence  117 

"  Who  is  Paul  Hallam  ?  "  she  asked,  reading 
the  name  inside  the  cover. 

Esme  swung  round  from  the  dressing-table, 
saw  the  book  in  her  sister's  hand,  and  coloured 
warmly. 

"  A  man  who  was  staying  at  the  Zuurberg." 

"  And  he  gave  you  this  book  ?  ' 

"Yes — to  read  in  the  train." 

The  two  sisters  looked  at  one  another.  Rose 
waited  for  further  information,  but  it  was  not 
forthcoming.  She  laid  the  book  down,  and  Esme" 
resumed  brushing  her  hair.  It  was  pretty  hair, 
soft  and  wavy.  The  older  woman  watched 
operations  for  a  moment  or  so,  then  she  went 
forward,  took  the  brush  from  the  girl's  hand,  and 
brushed  it  for  her. 

"  Tell  me  about  him,"  she  urged. 

"  There  is  nothing  to  tell,"  Esme  replied. 
"  He  was  nice  to  me  while  I  was  there ;  that  is  all." 

The  finality  of  the  phrase  struck  on  her  own 
ears  desolately.  That  was  all.  Her  romance 
had  begun  and  ended  with  her  holiday. 

Rose  made  no  comment.  The  scrappy  informa- 
tion had  illumined  things  for  her  surprisingly. 
She  felt  suddenly  very  tender  towards  her  sister. 
She  put  the  hair  back  from  her  face  and  kissed 
her  gently. 

"  You  are  just  sweet.  You  look  such  a  child 
with  your  hair  like  that,"  she  said. 


Ii8  The  Stronger  Influence 

But  she  made  no  further  mention  of  Paul 
Hallam.  There  were  a  dozen  questions  she  would 
have  liked  to  ask,  but  she  forbore.  It  was  not 
fair  to  attempt  to  force  the  girl's  confidence ; 
her  very  reluctance  to  speak  of  this  acquaintance 
proved  that  there  was  more  in  it  than  she  allowed, 
perhaps  more  than  she  yet  realized. 

There  followed  days  of  restlessness  and  alter- 
nating moods  more  fitful  than  any  barometer. 
Sinclair  called,  and  made  himself  so  agreeable 
to  Rose  and  the  children,  and  was  so  markedly 
attentive  to  Esme  that  Rose  found  herself  wish- 
ing that  this  quite  eligible  and  agreeable  young 
man  was  the  object  of  her  sister's  interest,  as  he 
unmistakably  desired  to  be. 

Esme  was  pleased  to  see  him  again  ;  but  her 
manner  towards  him  showed  no  particular  par- 
tiality. It  was  certainly  not  George  Sinclair, 
Rose  decided,  who  was  responsible  for  the  change 
in  the  girl. 

Sinclair  called  frequently  after  that  first  visit, 
and  speedily  became  on  very  friendly  terms  with 
the  family.  He  found  a  staunch  ally  in  Rose, 
who,  considering  the  other  affair  too  remote  to 
be  serious,  saw  in  Sinclair  an  eventual  safety- 
valve  for  her  sister's  repressed  emotions.  Re- 
pressed emotion  was  undesirable ;  it  hid  like  a 
morbid  germ  in  the  brain  cells  and  worked  with 
insidious  effect  upon  the  mind.  In  Esme  it  be- 


The  Stronger  Influence  119 

trayed  itself  in  unexpected  bursts  of  irritability, 
as  her  discontent  with  things  grew.  Mainly 
this  was  the  result  of  reaction,  and  was  but  a 
phase  in  the  cure  of  which  Sinclair  aided  uncon- 
sciously. His  visits  made  a  break  in  the  general 
monotony. 

And  then  one  day  a  letter  came  for  Esme. 
Rose  took  it  in.  It  was  directed  in  the  same  small 
untidy  handwriting  which  she  remembered  vividly 
seeing  on  the  front  page  of  the  book  in  Esme's 
room.  She  had  looked  for  that  book  often  since 
but  she  had  never  seen  it  again.  Now,  with  the 
letter  in  her  hand,  her  thoughts  went  back  to 
that  little  scene  in  the  bedroom,  and  her  brows 
knitted  themselves  in  a  frown.  Paul  Hallam 
had  broken  the  silence  and  written  to  the  girl. 
She  carried  the  letter  up  to  Esme's  room  and  laid 
it  on  the  table  beside  her  bed. 

"Poor  George!"  she  reflected.  "This  puts 
him  out  of  the  picture  anyway." 

Then  she  went  downstairs  and  left  it  to  the 
girl  to  make  her  own  discovery  on  her  return. 

The  first  thing  which  Esme's  eyes  rested  on 
when  she  ran  up  to  her  room  on  getting  back  from 
the  college  where  she  gave  music  lessons  was  the 
letter  lying  on  her  table.  She  stood  for  a  full 
minute  looking  down  at  it  with  pleased,  amazed 
eyes  and  a  deepening  colour  in  her  cheeks ;  then 
she  reached  forth  shyly  and  took  it  up. 


I2O  The  Stronger  Influence 

"  I  wonder  how  he  learned  my  address  ?  "  was 
the  thought  in  her  mind. 

She  had  not  seen  him  copy  it  from  the  label 
on  her  suit-case.  He  had  taken  that  precaution 
when  the  luggage  was  being  placed  in  the  cart. 

She  seated  herself  on  the  side  of  the  bed  and 
opened  her  letter  and  read  it. 

"  DEAR  LITTLE  FRIEND,"  it  began  character- 
istically,— 

"  I  wonder  whether  it  will  surprise  you 
ttiat  I  should  write  to  you  ?  I  write  to  ask  you 
a  favour.  I  want  you  out  of  the  kindness  of 
your  heart  to  send  me  a  line  sometimes.  You 
can  in  this  matter  help  me  considerably.  I 
knew  before  you  left  that  I  should  miss  you, 
but  I  did  not  realize  how  great  that  miss  would 
be  until  after  you  were  gone.  Never  in  all  my 
life  have  I  known  what  it  was  to  feel  intolerably 
lonely  until  now.  It  is  not  fair  to  me  if,  after 
giving  me  your  friendship,  you  withdraw  it  again 
altogether. 

"  I  am  fighting  the  devil  within  me,  and  just 
at  present  I  can't  say  who  will  win.  But  you  can 
help  me,  if  you  will.  Once  you  told  me  it  was 
a  shame  to  make  waste  of  my  life.  You  were 
right,  and  I  knew  it,  though  at  the  time  I  resented 
your  candour.  Since  you  left  I  have  thought 
often  of  your  words.  I  miss  you.  And  I  want 


The  Stronger  Influence  121 

to  talk  to  you.  I  have  never  before  ached  to 
talk  with  any  one.  And  yet  I  don't  want  to  see 
you  for  the  present.  If  ever  we  meet  you  will 
know  I  have  won.  I  shan't  attempt  to  see  you 
otherwise. 

"  Please  send  me  a  line  occasionally.  You  don't 
know  what  it  will  mean  to  me.  I  am  wondering 
as  I  write  what  you  are  doing,  and  whether  you 
continue  the  early  morning  habit  ?  The  sunrises 
are  not  marvellous  any  longer.  Every  morning 
I  go  in  search  of  the  old  beauty,  but  it  is  not  there. 
I  wonder  whether  I  shall  ever  find  it  again. 

"  PAUL  HALLAM." 

Esme  read  this  letter  through  with  deepening 
interest  and  a  growing  softness  in  her  eyes  ;  there 
were  tears  in  her  eyes  ;  they  splashed  on  to  the 
paper  and  blurred  the  signature,  tears  of  relief, 
of  deep  thankfulness  that  at  last  the  man  had 
come  to  see  the  pity  of  wasting  his  days. 

She  felt  no  fear  for  him  any  longer.  Not  a 
doubt  of  him  troubled  her  mind.  That  he  would 
ultimately  win  through  was  assured  by  the 
sincerity  of  his  desire  to  win.  It  did  not  seem  to 
her  possible  that  he  could  fail  in  what  he  under- 
took to  accomplish.  His  devil  stood  no  chance 
when  his  better  self  took  up  arms  against  him. 
He  would  win.  Assuredly  he  would  win.  And 
then  . 


122  'Ike  Stronger  Influence 

The  bell  sounded  for  lunch.  She  folded  the 
letter  and  put  it  inside  her  blouse.  Then  she 
bathed  her  eyes  to  hide  the  traces  of  emotion 
and  went  downstairs. 

Her  sister  scrutinized  her  attentively,  but 
could  read  nothing  in  her  face  to  help  her  to 
any  conclusion.  She  longed  to  ask  questions, 
but  restrained  her  curiosity  in  the  hope  that 
Esme  would  confide  in  her  when  a  propitious 
moment  offered.  She  made  opportunities  some- 
what too  obviously,  but  Esme  did  not  take 
advantage  of  them.  She  did  not  speak  of  her 
letter. 

The  letters  came  regularly  after  that,  once 
a  week ;  and  Rose's  unsatisfied  curiosity  grew 
enormously.  There  was  something  unnatural  in 
the  girl's  reticence.  She  began  to  entertain 
doubts  of  Paul  Hallam.  It  entered  her  mind  to 
seek  information  from  Sinclair,  but  loyalty  to 
her  sister  restrained  her  from  doing  that.  Esme, 
she  supposed,  answered  these  weekly  epistles ; 
but  she  never  saw  her  write  letters ;  whatever 
she  wrote  she  posted  herself. 

"Who's  Esme's  correspondent?"  Jim  asked 
on  one  occasion  when  the  weekly  letter  attracted 
his  notice.  "  These  letters  are  always  coming 
to  the  house." 

"  I  don't  know,"  his  wife  answered.  "  And 
you'd  better  not  ask  her." 


The  Stronger  Influence  123 

"  D'you  mean  she  never  tells  you  ?  "  he  asked, 
amazed. 

"  She  doesn't  tell  me  anything.  But  I  believe 
they  come  from  a  man  she  met  at  the  Zuur- 
berg." 

"  That  place  seems  to  be  a  kind  of  matrimonial 
agency,"  Jim  grinned.  "  I  thought  Sinclair  was 
coming  into  the  family.  You  see  if  you  can't 
find  out  something  about  this  fellow.  Sinclair's 
all  right,  and  he  means  business.  Pity  if  this  is 
going  to  queer  his  pitch." 

"  It's  Esme's  affair,"  Rose  replied,  experienc- 
ing a  distinct  disinclination  to  follow  his  counsel. 
'  When  there  is  anything  for  me  to  know  I  expect 
she  will  tell  me." 

"  I  never  knew  before  that  you  were  so  bloom- 
ing discreet,"  he  rejoined  ;  and  turned,  red  in 
the  face  but  unabashed,  to  confront  his  sister- 
in-law,  who  entered  by  the  open  door  and  met 
them  in  the  tiny  hall.  He  gave  her  the  letter. 

"  I  was  just  asking  Rose  who  your  correspon- 
dent was,"  he  said,  with  overdone  ease  of  manner. 
"  She  pretends  she  doesn't  know." 

"  She  does  not  know,"  Esme  answered  coolly, 
and  took  the  letter  from  his  hand  and  glanced 
at  it  casually. 

"  Well,  but,  see  here,"  he  returned,  nettled 
but  intent  on  information.  "  We  are  interested 
— naturally." 


124  The  Stronger  Influence 

"  How  can  you  be  interested  in  some  one  you 
have  never  met  ?  ' '  she  said,  and  went  on  up 
the  steep  narrow  stairs,  carrying  her  letter  with 
her. 

"  I'm  blowed !  "  her  brother-in-law  ejaculated. 

Rose  laughed  annoyingly. 

"  You  made  a  hash  of  that,"  she  said.  "  She 
won't  say  anything  now." 

"  Then  let  her  keep  her  mouth  shut,"  he  said 
rudely,  and  went  into  the  sitting-room  in  a  ruffled 
state  of  mind. 


The  Stronger  Influence  XIV 

THE  receipt  of  those  weekly  letters  and  the 
pleasurable  occupation  of  replying  to  them 
engrossed  Esme's  thoughts,  changed  all  her  out- 
look, filled  her  life  completely.  She  was  falling 
very  deeply  in  love.  And  she  believed  that  Paul 
Hallam  loved  her.  He  did  not  tell  her  so  in 
words,  but  every  letter  which  came  from  him  con- 
veyed the  idea  that  it  was  for  her  sake  entirely  he 
was  attempting  what  no  other  influence  would  have 
led  him  to  attempt,  that  when  he  was  sure  of  him- 
self he  would  come  to  her.  She  waited  and  hoped 
and  hugged  her  secret  to  herself,  determined  to 
guard  from  others  the  knowledge  of  his  weakness, 
which  he  was  so  earnestly  endeavouring  to  conquer. 

He  had  left  the  Zuurberg  for  the  coast,  and 
was  staying  at  Camp's  Bay,  right  on  the  beach, 
he  explained,  in  writing  her  a  description  of  his 
new  quarters. 

"  You  would  love  it  here,"  he  wrote.  "  The 
road  between  Camp's  Bay  and  Seapoint  surpasses 
everything  for  beauty.  You've  no  idea  how  fine 
it  is  in  the  early  morning." 

125 


iz6  The  Stronger  Influence 

In  another  letter  he  said  : 

"  The  moonlight  on  the  sea  has  set  me  thinking 
of  you.  If  only  we  were  watching  it  together ! 
The  surface  of  the  sea  is  all  splashed  with  silver, 
broken  up  and  spread  over  it  in  a  running  liquid 
fire.  One  day  I  hope  you  will  watch  it  with  me. 
I  see  it  from  the  window  as  I  write." 

She  treasured  these  letters  and  tied  them  about 
and  locked  them  away  from  sight.  They  brought 
him  very  near  to  her ;  and  his  detailed  descrip- 
tions of  his  walks,  his  surroundings,  helped  her 
to  visualize  him.  She  longed  to  see  him  again  ; 
but  she  never  allowed  a  breath  of  her  longing  to 
find  expression  in  the  cheery  letters  she  wroti 
in  answer  to  his. 

In  the  meantime  Sinclair  pursued  his  courtship 
in  blissful  unconsciousness  of  the  hopelessness  of 
his  cause.  Esme  had  come  to  accept  Sinclair's 
friendship  as  a  matter  of  course.  Their  relations 
were  very  fraternal.  They  called  one  another 
by  their  Christian  names.  Sinclair  was  George 
to  everyone  in  the  Bainbridge  household,  down 
to  the  children,  who  viewed  him  with  affectionate 
interest  as  a  person  who  understood  small  people's 
tastes  in  the  matter  of  sweets. 

Every  Saturday  he  came  in  for  tennis,  and 
returned  with  Esme  to  the  house  in  Havelock 
Street  for  supper.  Usually  on  Sundays  he  took 
Esme  and  the  children  to  Red  House,  and  they 


The  Stronger  Influence  127 

spent  the  day  on  the  river.  He  brightened  life 
for  her  considerably.  She  liked  him.  In  a 
friendly,  wholly  unsentimental  fashion  she  was 
fond  of  him.  Had  there  been  no  one  else  in  her 
life  her  affection  would  probably  have  developed 
into  a  warmer  sentiment.  But  she  never  thought 
of  George  Sinclair  in  the  light  of  a  possible  lover. 
He  never  made  love  to  her.  Not  once  in  their 
pleasant  intercourse  had  he  said  anything  she 
could  have  construed  into  an  attempt  at  love- 
making.  His  manner  was  affectionate  and  kind 
always.  He  was  a  good  chum.  That  was  how 
she  thought  of  him,  as  a  good  chum.  The  awaken- 
ing therefore  was  all  the  more  startling  when  it 
came. 

Sinclair  seized  his  opportunity  during  the  tennis 
tournament.  With  considerable  difficulty  he  per- 
suaded her  to  partner  him  in  the  mixed  doubles. 
She  was  reluctant  on  account  of  being  a  weak 
player ;  but  he  overruled  her  objections,  and 
she  gave  way. 

"  You'll  lose — with  me,"  she  warned  him. 
"  I'm  not  good  at  games  ever." 

"I'll  take  my  chance  of  that,"  he  replied. 
"  Anyway,  I'd  rather  lose  with  you  than  win 
with  any  one  else." 

Esme  practised  untiringly  before  the  event. 
She  had  never  attended  the  tournament  before 
other  than  as  a  spectator,  and  the  sight  of  the 


128  The  Stronger  Influence 

crowds  which  gathered  each  day  to  view  the 
events  shook  her  nerve.  She  played  badly,  and 
felt  rather  aggrieved  that  her  partner  managed 
to  drag  her  victoriously  through  their  first  set. 
After  their  game  she  sat  with  him  below  the  stand 
and  reproached  him  for  winning. 

"  It  would  be  all  over  now  if  you  hadn't  cribbed 
half  my  balls,"  she  complained. 

"  But  you  don't  want  to  be  out  of  it  really  ?  ' 
he  said,  surprised. 

"  I  do — and  I  don't.     It  makes  me  jumpy." 

"  That's  all  right.  You'll  get  your  tail  up  later. 
I'm  going  to  win,  you  know.  I'm  going  to  pull 
this  off." 

"  You've  got  your  work  cut  out,"  she  said,  and 
laughed.  "  You'll  get  very  little  help  from  me." 

"  I  only  ask  your  co-operation,"  he  returned 
confidently.  "  Take  what  you  can,  and  leave 
the  rest  to  me.  I'm  out  to  win.  You  see,  we 
are  coming  through  together." 

She  did  see.  And  with  each  set  they  played 
and  won  her  astonishment  deepened.  She  had 
always  known  that  he  was  a  good  player,  but  she 
had  not  realized  the  reserve  force  which  he  could 
bring  into  his  game  when  he  wanted  it.  It  was 
something  more  than  play,  she  decided,  which 
carried  him  through  ;  it  was  sheer  determination 
not  to  be  beaten.  They  came  through  the  finals 
with  a  hard-won  victory. 


The  Stronger  Influence  129 

Jim  and  Rose  were  present  to  watch  the  finish. 
According  to  Jim,  his  sister-in-law  played  a  foot- 
ling game. 

"  At  least  she  didn't  hamper  her  partner,"  Rose 
said. 

"  Hamper  him  !  No.  She  might  as  well  have 
been  off  the  court  altogether." 

"  Her  service  is  good,"  Rose  insisted. 

"  Yes — for  a  girl."  He  chuckled.  "  She  leaves 
him  to  make  all  the  running." 

"  Well,  they  won  anyhow." 

"  He  won,"  he  corrected.  "  Shouldn't  be  sur- 
prised if  he  didn't  win  all  along  the  line.  He  has 
only  a  bundle  of  letters  to  compete  against.  My 
money  is  on  the  man  on  the  spot  all  the  time." 

"  Hush  !  "  Rose  said  warningly.  "  Here  they 
come." 

She  hailed  the  winners  with  smiling  congratu- 
lations, and  complimented  Sinclair  on  his  play. 

"  We  pulled  it  off  all  right,  Mrs.  Bainbridge," 
he  said,  laughing,  looking  hot  and  young  and 
immeasurably  contented  with  life.  "  Esme  funked 
right  to  the  finish,  but  she  played  up  like  a  good 
'un.  Whew  !  I'm  hot.  Come  on,  partner  ;  let's 
go  and  have  a  lemon  squash." 

The  girl,  flushed  and  tired  and  less  elated  with 
success  than  he  was,  followed  him  to  the  back 
of  the  pavilion,  and  stood  drinking  lemonade, 
and  talking  to  a  little  knot  of  competitors  who 


130  The  Stronger  Influence 

were  there  for  a  similar  purpose.  Some  of  the 
players  she  knew,  but  a  number  of  them  were 
visitors  down  for  the  tournament.  A  dance  that 
night  at  the  Town  Hall  was  to  celebrate  the 
finish  of  the  festivities.  A  group  of  flannel-clad 
young  men  and  white-frocked  young  women  were 
discussing  the  ball  and  booking  dances  in  advance. 
Some  one  came  up  to  Esme  and  asked  her  for  a 
dance,  which  she  promised  willingly.  In  a  very 
short  while  she  had  given  a  number  of  dances  away. 
Sinclair  touched  her  arm. 

"  I  want  some/'  he  said.  "  I  want  quite  a 
lot." 

His  tone  was  urgent,  and  when  she  turned  to 
look  at  him  she  saw  that  his  face  was  strained  and 
very  determined.  The  expression  in  his  eyes 
puzzled  her. 

"  Of  course,"  she  said,  "  I  should  feel  a  little 
hurt  if  you  didn't." 

"  Look  here  !  "  he  said  in  an  undertone.  "  Come 
out  of  this.  I  don't  want  you  to  give  away  any 
more — not  at  present.  I'm  going  to  have  the 
supper  dance,  and  everything  after  that.  Is  it 
a  promise  ?  ' 

"  Well,"  she  said,  and  looked  somewhat  doubt- 
ful. "  That  means  that  you  are  booked  for  the 
entire  half  of  my  programme." 

He  nodded. 

"  That's  it,"  he  said. 


The  Stronger  Influence  131 


"  But "  she  was  beginning,  when  he  took 

hold  of  her  arm  and  led  her  outside,  with  a  mut- 
tered reference  to  the  stifling  heat. 

"  Come  and  sit  under  the  trees,"  he  said.  "  I 
want  to  watch  the  set  on  the  far  court." 

It  was  one  of  the  less  interesting  sets,  and  there 
were  fewer  spectators,  which  was  probably  why 
he  decided  for  it.  He  conducted  her  to  an  un- 
occupied seat  and  sat  down  beside  her. 

"It's  jolly  here  and  cool  and  out  of  the  crush. 
You  don't  want  to  watch  the  Johannesburg  chap, 
do  you  ?  ' 

She  would  have  preferred  to  watch  the  play 
on  the  centre  court.  It  was  clear  that  the  Johan- 
nesburg man  would  carry  off  the  championship 
in  the  men's  singles  ;  but  she  gave  in  to  his  wish 
and  decided  to  remain  where  she  was. 

Sinclair's  manner  was  nervous  and  preoccupied  ; 
but  the  girl  did  not  appear  to  notice  it ;  she  did 
not  want  to  talk.  Her  companion  smoked  cigar- 
ettes and  stared  with  a  sort  of  strained  attention 
at  the  game  and  jerked  out  an  occasional  comment. 
Presently  he  remarked  apropos  of  nothing  : 

"  I  had  a  rise  yesterday.  That  was  an  alto- 
gether unexpected  stroke  of  luck." 

"  Yes  !  "  she  exclaimed,  turning  an  interested, 
unsuspicious  face  towards  him.  "  I  am  pleased. 
Why  didn't  you  tell  me  before  ?  " 

He  laughed. 


132  The  Stronger  Influence 

"  Too  absorbed  in  our  game,"  he  said,  "  to 
think  of  it.  But  I'm  thinking  of  it  now.  It 
makes  a  difference." 

"  I  suppose  it  does.  You'll  be  bursting  forth 
into  extravagances.  Why  don't  you  keep  a 
car  ?  " 

"  Not  yet,"  he  said.  "  I  want  other  things 
more  urgently  than  that." 

"  What  things  ?  " 

"  I'll  tell  you  to-night,"  he  said,  reddening. 

"  Yes,"  she  said,  her  thoughts  reverting  to 
the  discussion  in  the  pavilion.  "  During  half  a 
programme  you'll  find  time  enough  to  tell  me  a 
good  deal." 

He  glanced  at  her  quickly. 

"  You  didn't  mind  ?  "  he  said.  "  It's  only 
the  second  half  ;  and  you'll  be  tired.  You  won't 
want  to  dance  much." 

"  Oh,  indeed !  Then  what  do  you  propose  we 
shall  do  ?  If  we  don't  dance  we  might  as  well 
remain  at  home." 

'  We'll  dance  all  you  want  to,"  he  replied. 
"  And  we'll  go  for  a  stroll  along  the  sea  wall. 
The  weather  is  too  hot  for  being  inside.  You 
shall  do  what  you  like  anyhow." 

'  You  are  always  so  amenable,  George,"  she 
said,  smiling.  "  And  you  always  get  your  own 
way  in  the  end." 

He  smiled  back  at  her  with  gay  confidence. 


The  Stronger  Influence  133 

"My  luck's  in,"  he  replied.  "The  gods  smile 
on  me.  I  told  you,  Esme,  that  I  meant  to  win." 

"  I  did  my  utmost  to  prevent  you,"  she  said. 

'  You  understand  co-operation,  partner,"  he 
returned  coolly.  "  That's  good  enough  for  me/' 

She  did  not  hi  the  least  understand  the  drift 
of  his  remarks,  although  he  believed  he  was  tact- 
fully preparing  her  for  the  declaration  he  intended 
making  that  night.  The  last  thing  she  anticipated 
was  the  proposal  which  hovered  continually  in 
the  forefront  of  Sinclair's  mind.  He  intended 
to  put  his  luck  to  the  test  that  evening,  and  felt 
fairly  confident  as  to  the  result.  He  had  not 
the  remotest  suspicion  of  possessing  a  rival.  The 
road  ahead,  so  far  as  he  could  see,  was  perfectly 
clear. 


The  Stronger  Influence  XV 

IT  seemed  to  Sinclair  that  all  the  conditions 
that  night  favoured  his  suit.  It  was  a  perfect 
evening,  warm  and  still,  with  a  brilliant  moon  in 
a  cloudless  sky  lighting  the  world  with  a  luminous 
whiteness  in  which  everything  was  revealed 
scarcely  less  clearly  than  in  the  daylight.  It 
was  a  night  for  lovers,  for  the  open  air  and  soli- 
tude ;  it  was  not  a  night  for  dancing.  Sinclair, 
after  the  first  dance,  which  he  had  with  Esme, 
was  content  to  remain  on  the  outskirts  of  the 
crowd  and  look  on  at  the  rest.  The  floor  was 
thronged  with  dancers.  The  lights,  the  music, 
the  colour  of  the  moving  crowd,  appealed  plea- 
santly to  the  senses.  He  liked  to  watch ;  and 
every  now  and  again  he  caught  Esme's  eye  and 
won  a  smile  from  her  which  cheered  him.  She 
appeared  more  than  usually  sweet  and  kind  that 
night,  he  thought. 

The  supper  dance  gave  him  the  right  to  claim 
her  again.  In  the  interim  he  had  done  a  lot  of 
thinking.  He  had  his  phrases  turned  and  clear 
in  his  mind.  He  knew  very  definitely  what  he 

134 


The  Stronger  Influence  135 

wanted  to  say  ;  he  had  rehearsed  it  in  his  thoughts 
endless  times.  And  he  knew  the  right  atmosphere 
for  the  deliverance  of  those  neatly  turned  sen- 
tences. He  wasn't  going  to  fling  the  thing  at 
her  in  a  crowded  room  with  numberless  people 
present.  They  would  slip  away  together  in  the 
moonlight,  and  stroll  along  the  sea  wall,  against 
which  the  tiny  waves  broke  softly,  running  in 
and  curling  round  the  rocks,  slapping  musically 
against  the  stonework  which  checked  their  further 
advance.  He  could  tell  her  to  the  accompaniment 
of  the  sea  what  he  could  not  tell  her  in  a  hot  and 
crowded  place.  He  wanted  her  to  himself,  away 
from  these  others. 

It  was  not  a  difficult  matter  to  persuade  her 
to  go  with  him.  With  the  finish  of  supper  they 
left  the  hall  together,  crossed  the  moonlit  square, 
passed  the  Customs  House,  and  so  on  to  the  sea 
wall,  where  the  quiet  of  the  night  was  undis- 
turbed ;  the  swish  of  lapping  water  and  the  low 
murmur  of  the  sea  were  the  only  audible  sounds 
in  the  surrounding  stillness. 

He  sat  down  beside  her  on  a  seat  cut  into  the 
wall,  and  remained  very  still,  holding  her  hand 
and  looking  away  to  where  the  ships  rode  at 
anchor  far  out  on  the  silver  sea.  All  the  things 
which  he  had  meant  to  say  to  her,  all  his  care- 
fully planned  sentences,  eluded  him ;  he  felt 
intensely,  horribly  nervous  as  he  sat  there  in  the 


136  The  Stronger  Influence 

growing  silence,  holding  her  hand  and  looking 
out  across  the  sea. 

The  girl  sat  and  looked  at  the  water  also  and 
forgot  the  man  beside  her.  Her  thoughts  were 
away  from  her  present  surroundings.  She  was 
thinking  of  a  sentence  in  one  of  Hallam's  letters, 
while  she  sat  silent  in  the  moonlight  and  saw  the 
surface  of  the  sea,  as  he  had  seen  it  from  his 
window  while  he  wrote  his  letter  to  her,  splashed 
with  silver,  broken  up  and  spread  over  it,  a  run- 
ning liquid  fire.  It  was  here  just  as  he  had 
described  it — the  same  sea,  the  same  moon, — with 
the  waste  of  waters  intervening,  dividing  them  in 
everything  but  thought.  Sinclair  had  made  a 
mistake  in  taking  her  down  to  the  sea. 

"  Esme  !  '  he  said  presently,  breaking  the 
dragging  silence,  and  pressing  her  hand  warmly 
in  his  strong  grasp.  "  Esme  !  " 

She  turned  her  face  to  his,  wholly  unaware  of 
the  emotional  stress  under  which  he  laboured,  but 
conscious  of  a  quality  in  his  voice  which  rendered 
it  unfamiliar.  She  saw  his  face  close  to  hers, 
strained  and  white  in  the  moonlight,  heard  his 
breathing,  hard  and  deep,  like  the  breathing  of  a 
man  after  violent  exercise,  and  felt  a  faint  surprise. 
Dimly  she  began  to  realize  that  something  unusual 
was  happening ;  a  look  of  apprehension  grew  in 
her  eyes. 

He  groped  about  after  the  sentences  he  had  so 


The  Stronger  Influence  137 

carefully  prepared,  but  his  mind  was  a  blank. 
He  could  think  of  nothing  effective  to  say  ;  and 
all  the  while  her  eyes,  puzzled  and  questioning, 
were  on  his  face. 

"  I  love  you,"  he  mumbled  presently,  and  took 
heart  of  grace  when  the  words  were  out  and 
pulled  her  swiftly  to  him  and  kissed  her.  "  Dear, 
I  love  you  with  all  my  soul.  I  want  to  marry  you. " 

Very  gently  she  freed  herself  from  his  hold, 
and  drew  back,  and  sat  scrutinizing  him  with 
ever  growing  distress.  She  liked  him  so  well. 
She  hated  having  to  hurt  him  ;  but  it  had  never 
occurred  to  her  that  he  was  in  love  with  her. 
His  affection  had  seemed  so  frankly  friendly 
hitherto. 

"  George,  I'm  sorry,"  she  said.  "  I  didn't 
know.  I  don't  feel  towards  you  like  that." 

"  Perhaps  not  now.  But  you  will,"  he  sug- 
gested. "  I've  been  a  little  abrupt.  I  ought  to 
have  waited." 

"  It  wouldn't  have  made  any  difference,"  she 
said. 

"  Are  you  sure  ?  ' 

"  Quite  sure.  I'm  very  fond  of  you ;  but 
that's  all,"  she  added  convincingly. 

"  Well,  look  here !  I'm  not  taking  '  No '  right  off 
like  that.  I'm  going  to  wait " 

"  No,"  she  interrupted  quickly.  "  You  mustn't 
think  that.  I  shan't  change." 


138  The  Stronger  Influence 

His  face  fell. 

"  You  don't  mean  that  there  is  some  one  else  ?  ' 
he  asked. 

For  a  moment  or  two  she  did  not  answer  ; 
then  she  nodded,  without  speaking,  and  put  out 
a  hand  and  touched  his  arm. 

"  My  dear,"  she  said,  "  don't  ask  me  questions. 
It  is  quite  possible  that  I  shall  never  marry  the 
man  I  love,  but  I  cannot  marry  any  one  else. 
I'm  sorry.  I  didn't  think  you  cared  for  me  like 
that.  I  wish  you  didn't.  You  must  put  me  out 
of  your  thoughts." 

He  smiled  faintly. 

"  That's  not  easily  done/'  he  replied.  "  Besides, 
I  don't  want  to.  Like  you,  I  may  never  marry 
the  girl  I  love,  but  at  least  I  cannot  love  any 
one  else.  You  are  the  one  and  only  girl  for  me. 
I  know.  I'm  not  a  moonstruck  boy.  You'll  let 
me  keep  your  friendship,  won't  you  ?  I  won't 
take  advantage  of  it." 

Tears  came  into  her  eyes.  She  had  never  liked 
him  so  much  as  in  that  moment.  The  idea  of 
giving  up  his  friendship  had  not  occurred  to  her 
until  he  begged  the  privilege  of  retaining  it.  She 
did  not  want  to  give  it  up.  It  was  one  of  the 
pleasant  things  in  her  life. 

"  I  want  to  continue  being  friends,"  she  said. 
"I've  grown  to  look  on  you  as  a  chum.  That's 
how  I've  always  thought  of  you.  I  want  to  be 


The  Stronger  Influence  139 

friends — and  to  put  this  other  thing  out  of  my 
thoughts." 

"  Yes/'  he  agreed.  "  We'll  wipe  that  out.  I 
made  a  mistake.  You  know,  dear," — he  felt  for 
her  hand  and  found  it  and  held  it  tightly, — "  I 
think  you  are  the  sweetest  girl  in  the  world.  I'll 
do  anything  for  you.  For  the  present  I'm  feeling 
a  bit  sore,  and  just  for  a  little  while  will  keep 
in  the  background.  When  I  turn  up  again  I'll 
be  over  the  worst  of  it,  and  you  needn't  fear 
that  I  shall  make  a  fool  of  myself.  We'll  take 
things  up  where  we  dropped  them." 

His  defeat  staggered  Sinclair.  He  had  been  so 
sure  that  his  luck  was  in,  so  confident  of  the 
girl's  affection,  and  unsuspicious  of  a  possible 
rival.  He  knew  of  no  one  with  whom  she  was 
on  terms  of  particular  intimacy.  It  never  entered 
his  thoughts  to  associate  Hallam  with  her  in  any 
way.  He  had  not  seen  the  development  of  that 
acquaintance.  He  would  have  disapproved  if  he 
had.  His  naturally  healthy  mind  held  only  con- 
tempt for  such  weakness  as  Hallam 's.  He  had 
summed  up  the  man  briefly  as  a  waster,  and  so 
disposed  of  him.  That  the  man  he  despised  would 
one  day  have  to  be  reckoned  with,  that  he  stood 
already  in  his  life,  a  menace  to  his  happiness,  an 
adverse  influence,  he  was  wholly  unaware.  It 
was  as  well  for  his  peace  of  mind  that  he  remained 
in  ignorance  for  long  after  she  had  refused  him 


140  The  Stronger  Influence 

of  his  rival's  identity.  A  rival  who  did  not 
materialize  left  room  for  a  tiny  gleam  of  hope 
in  his  heart. 

"  We'd  better  get  back,"  he  said,  and  rose  from 
the  seat.  The  beauty  of  the  night  held  no  longer 
any  attraction  for  him. 

"  I  want  to  go  home,"  she  said,  rising  also. 
"I'm  tired,  and — I  want  to  go  home." 

He  took  her  back  to  the  hall  and  waited  while 
she  fetched  her  cloak.  She  came  out  after  a 
brief  while,  white  faced  and  pensive,  with  a  look 
in  her  eyes  as  though  she  had  been  crying  and 
had  dashed  the  tears  hastily  away. 

He  drew  her  hand  through  his  arm  and  went 
with  her  out  into  the  warm,  still  night,  along  the 
deserted  streets,  up  White's  Road,  traversing  the 
intervening  byways  to  her  own  road  almost  in 
silence.  At  her  door  he  said  good-night,  and 
was  turning  away  when  she  stopped  him.  Her 
heart  ached  with  pity  for  the  sadness  in  his  eyes. 

"  George,  I'm  sorry,"  she  whispered,  and  tugged 
at  his  sleeve. 

"  That's  all  right,"  he  answered,  breaking  away 
from  her. 

His  voice  sounded  husky  and  a  little  gruff ; 
he  could  not  trust  himself  to  say  more.  She 
drew  back,  feeling  troubled  and  inadequate,  and 
stood  on  the  doorstep  looking  after  him  wistfully 
while  he  hurried  down  the  road  in  the  moonlight, 


The  Stronger  Influence  141 

turned  a  corner  and  went  out  of  her  sight.  She 
had  an  impulse  to  run  after  him  :  she  felt  that 
she  must  say  something,  do  something,  anything, 
to  drive  the  pain  and  disappointment  from  his 
look  ;  it  hurt  her  to  let  him  go  like  that.  But 
on  reflection  she  knew  that  she  could  do  nothing  ; 
she  must  let  him  go. 

She  opened  the  door  and  went  dejectedly  inside 
and  shut  it  quickly  and  turned  the  key  in  the 
lock.  Softly  she  crept  upstairs  to  her  room. 
The  blind  was  not  drawn  and  the  moonlight 
streamed  in  through  the  open  window  and  made 
any  other  illumination  unnecessary. 

She  seated  herself  on  the  side  of  the  bed  and 
stared  out  at  the  black  shadow  of  the  tree  with 
its  clusters  of  blossoms  showing  palely  in  the 
white  light.  The  household  she  supposed  was 
asleep  ;  everything  was  very  still  and  quiet.  In 
the  distance  a  dog  barked  incessantly  :  there  was 
no  other  sound  to  disturb  the  quiet  of  the  night. 

And  then  suddenly  her  door  opened  softly,  and 
Rose  came  in  in  her  nightdress,  and  stood  looking 
in  sleepy  surprise  at  the  motionless  figure  seated 
on  the  bed.  She  advanced  to  the  bed  and  sat 
down  beside  the  girl  and  started  a  whispered 
conversation. 

"  I  heard  you  come  in,"  she  said.  "  Jim's 
asleep.  Have  you  had  a  good  time  ?  Why  don't 
you  get  to  bed  ?  ' 


142  The  Stronger  Influence 

"  I  forgot,"  Esme  said,  and  began  to  unfasten 
her  dress.  Rose  became  actively  helpful. 

"You  are  tired,"  she  said.  "What's  the 
matter,  dear  ?  '  She  took  the  girl's  face  between 
her  hands  and  scrutinized  it  closely.  "  Esme, 
what  has  happened  ?  I  wish  you'd  confide  in  me 
more." 

The  gentle  reproach  in  her  sister's  voice,  acting 
on  her  overwrought  nerves,  caused  the  tears,  so 
near  the  surface,  to  overflow.  She  dropped  her 
face  on  to  Rose's  shoulder  and  wept  softly. 

"  Did  George  say  anything  to  you  to-night  ?  ' 
Rose  asked,  feeling  increasingly  surprised.  She 
had  not  wept  when  Jim  proposed  to  her.  She 
remembered  quite  vividly  that  she  had  felt  elated 
and  very  excited.  She  had  wanted  to  speak  of 
it,  to  tell  people.  She  could  not  fathom  Esme's 
mood. 

"  Is  that  the  trouble,  little  goose  ?  "  she  asked. 
"  I  knew — we  all  knew — he  meant  to  propose.0 

Whereupon  Esme  lifted  her  face  and  turned 
her  tear-wet  eyes  on  the  speaker  in  wide  amaze. 

"  You  knew  !  "  she  said.  "  Well,  I  didn't.  I 
wish  I  had  known.  I  thought  he  was  just  a  pal." 

"  A  pal  makes  a  good  husband,"  Rose  said 
thoughtfully,  with  the  first  glimmer  of  doubt  in 
her  mind  as  to  what  answer  her  sister  had  returned. 
"  It's  all  right,  isn't  it  ?  " 

"  It's  all  wrong,"  Esme  answered  ruefully,  and 


Tke  Stronger  Influence  143 

dabbed  at  her  eyes, — "  just  as  wrong  as  it  can 
be.  He's  hurt ;  and  I  hate  hurting  him.  I  like 
him  so  well.  But  I  don't  love  him,  Rose." 

"  You  don't  mean  that  you  refused  him  ?  " 

"  Of  course  I  mean  that.  I  couldn't  marry 
George." 

"  Why  not  ?  '  Rose  inquired  blankly.  When 
no  response  came  to  her  question,  she  caught  her 
sister's  arm  and  turned  her  towards  her  and 
looked  her  steadily  in  the  eyes. 

"  Tell  me,"  she  said  quietly,  "  what  there  is 
between  you  and  Paul  Hallam  ?  You've  changed 
since  you  knew  him.  You  are  more  reserved, 
and  you've  lost  your  high  spirits.  Who  is  Paul 
Hallam  ?  And  why  does  he  write  to  you  ?  What 
is  he  to  you  ? 

"  He  is  just  a  friend,"  Esme  answered. 

"  You  love  him,"  Rose  said.  "  Do  you  think 
I  am  so  dense  as  not  to  have  discovered  that  ? 
You  can  trust  me.  I've  not  let  Jim  guess  that 
I  know  who  your  correspondent  is.  I've  kept 
your  counsel  all  the  time  ;  it's  your  affair.  But 
I  think  you  might  tell  me." 

Esme  made  a  gesture  that  was  at  once  a  protest 
and  an  appeal.  She  sat  straighter,  with  her  hands 
locked  together  in  her  lap,  and  stared  out  at  the 
moonlight  unseeingly. 

"I'd  tell  you  if  there  was  anything  to  tell," 
she  said.  "  There  isn't.  There  has  never  been 


144  ^ke  Stronger  Influence 

any  talk  of  love  between  us  ever.  We  are  just 
good  friends." 

"  But  you  love  him  ?  '     Rose  persisted. 

"  Yes,  I  love  him  with  all  my  heart.  If  I 
never  see  him  again  I  will  go  on  loving  him  for 
the  rest  of  my  life." 

In  face  of  this  Rose  found  nothing  to  say.  The 
situation  had  got  beyond  her.  She  felt  increas- 
ingly curious.  She  wanted  to  know  more  about 
this  man  ;  but  Esme's  manner  baffled  her.  It 
was  very  evident  that  the  subject  was  distressing 
to  the  girl.  There  was  something  behind  all  this 
of  which  she  was  in  ignorance  and  which  she 
felt  she  ought  to  be  told.  She  put  one  or  two 
leading  questions,  but  all  she  elicited  was  the  fact 
that  Hallam  was  a  man  of  independent  means 
and  no  fixed  abode.  That  struck  Rose  as  signifi- 
cant. If  no  duties  engrossed  him  it  was  odd  that 
he  should  be  satisfied  to  communicate  with  the 
girl  only  by  post.  If  he  were  sufficiently  inter- 
ested in  her  to  keep  up  a  correspondence, 
why  did  he  never  come  to  see  her  ? 

"  I  would  advise  you  to  put  Paul  Hallam  out 
of  your  thoughts,"  she  said,  as  an  outcome  of 
these  reflections. 

Then  she  kissed  the  girl,  and  got  off  the  bed, 
and  stood  hesitating  between  the  bed  and  the 
door,  sleepy,  yet  reluctant  to  leave  her  sister  alone. 

"  I  hoped  when  I  came  in  you  would  have  a 


The  Stronger  Influence  145 

different  story  to  tell  me,"  she  added.  "  Don't 
waste  your  life,  thinking  of  a  man  who  doesn't 
care  enough  to  want  to  come  and  see  you.  George 
is  honest,  and  he  loves  you.  It's  a  pity  to  throw 
away  a  really  good  chance  of  happiness." 

"  To  marry  a  man  when  you  love  another 
would  not  bring  happiness,"  Esme  said,  facing 
her  sister  in  the  moonlight,  half  undressed,  and 
with  her  hair  falling  about  her  shoulders  and 
shading  her  face.  "  And  it  wouldn't  be  fair  to 
George." 

"  I  expect  George,  like  most  people,  would 
prefer  half  a  loaf  to  no  bread,"  Rose  answered. 
She  opened  the  door.  "  Good-night,  dear,"  she 
said  softly.  "  You  go  to  sleep,  and  don't  bother 
your  head  about  any  of  them.  Men  aren't  worth 
half  the  tears  women  waste  on  them." 

She  returned  to  her  own  room,  and  stood  for 
a  moment  or  so  looking  thoughtfully  at  the  sleep- 
ing face  of  her  husband,  as  he  lay  on  his  back 
with  arms  spread  wide  across  the  bed,  and  a 
faint  smile  touched  her  lips. 

"It  is  all  beauty  and  romance  till  we  marry 
you,"  she  mused.  "  Then  we  discover  that  our 
demi-gods  are  just  mere  men.  I  wonder  whether 
I  would  have  wept  over  you  in  the  old  days  ?  .  .  . 
I  didn't  anyway." 

With  which  she  got  into  bed  and  fell  asleep. 

But  Esme"  did  not  sleep.     She  lay  awake  in  the 

!0 


146  The  Stronger  Influence 

hot  stuffy  darkness  of  her  little  room,  which  the 
kitchen  stove  abetted  the  sun  in  keeping  hot  by 
day,  while  the  warm  slates  of  the  too  adjacent 
roof  prevented  any  appreciable  decrease  in  tem- 
perature during  the  night — lay  awake  with  her 
mind  filled  with  the  thought  of  one  man,  and 
her  imagination  afire  with  the  memory  of  splashes 
of  moonlight  on  a  heaving  mass  of  water  that 
stretched  away  endlessly  and  laved  the  moonlit, 
rock- strewn  beach  of  a  little  bay  along  the  coast. 
Then,  with  the  dawn,  she  fell  asleep  and  dreamed 
of  the  moonlight  and  of  Paul  Hallam. 


The  Stronger  Influence  XVI 

FROM  dreaming  of  Hallam  at  night  and  think- 
ing of  him  in  the  daytime,  Esme"  arrived  at 
a  stage  of  almost  incredible  longing  to  see  him 
again.  Letters  did  not  satisfy  her.  She  wanted 
to  hear  his  voice  speaking  to  her,  wanted  to  feel 
his  presence,  wanted,  above  all,  to  discover  whether 
the  months  had  changed  him,  and  if  the  lapse 
of  time  had  decreased  his  kindly  feeling  for  her 
in  any  way.  His  letters  no  longer  referred  to 
the  possibility  of  meeting :  they  became  more 
formal  in  tone  as  time  went  by. 

Soon  after  her  tennis  victory  he  wrote  congratu- 
lating her  on  the  event.  She  had  not  written  to 
him  on  the  subject ;  his  information  had  been 
gleaned  from  the  papers. 

"  I  see  you  have  been  distinguishing  yourself 
on  the  tennis  courts,"  he  wrote.  "  Why  do  you 
leave  me  to  discover  the  tale  of  your  triumphs 
from  the  newspapers  ?  I  prefer  to  hear  of 
these  things  first  hand.  The  news  furnished  a 
further  link  with  the  old  Zuurberg  days.  I  recall 
how  you  practised  with  Sinclair  then.  So  you 

147 


148  "The  Stronger  Influence 

keep  hold  on  the  thread  of  that  acquaintance 
also  ?  " 

It  occurred  to  Esme  that  this  circumstance 
had  displeased  him.  She  wished  that  she  had 
written  to  him  about  the  tournament  and  her 
part  in  it.  It  did  seem  a  little  odd,  when  she 
came  to  think  of  it,  that  she  had  suppressed 
this  piece  of  news. 

His  letter  was  brief ;  and  contained  very  little 
news  of  personal  interest.  It  read  as  though  it 
had  been  written  with  an  effort,  and  not  because 
he  wanted  to  talk  to  her.  A  first  fear  that  he 
might  weary  of  the  correspondence  gripped  her. 
If  he  ceased  to  write  she  would  be  desolate.  His 
letters  had  come  to  mean  so  much  to  her :  they 
caught  her  away  from  the  dreary  routine  of  her 
days ;  they  coloured  life  for  her  warmly,  kept 
her  interest  on  the  alert.  Giving  music  lessons 
endlessly  through  the  long,  hot  days,  returning  to 
the  stuffy  overcrowded  little  house  where  number- 
less small  duties  constantly  demanded  her  atten- 
tion, was  not  an  existence  calculated  to  add 
romance  to  life.  She  had  grown  weary  of  these 
things.  The  blood  in  her  veins  was  astir  like 
the  sap  in  the  trees  in  the  springtime.  Love 
budded  in  her  heart ;  it  only  awaited  a  sign  to 
burst  into  flower. 

There  were  times  when  she  fancied  she  read  in 
Hallam's  letters  an  intimation  that  he  wanted 


The  Stronger  Influence  149 

her.  He  spoke  often  of  his  loneliness,  and  made 
reference  to  the  happiness  of  their  time  together. 
But  the  months  went  by  and  he  did  not  come, 
and  into  his  letters  crept  a  new  note  of  reserve. 
Then  followed  a  period  of  silence,  after  which  he 
wrote  from  a  totally  new  address  and  begged  for 
news  of  her.  She  allowed  herself  twenty-four 
hours  for  reflection  ;  then  she  replied  to  his  letter 
in  the  old  friendly  vein. 

It  was  nearing  the  vacation,  and  she  spoke  of 
needing  a  holiday,  and  told  him  that  she  could 
not  decide  where  to  go. 

"  I've  thought  of  the  Zuurberg,"  she  wrote  ; 
"  but  your  remark  about  walking  among  tomb- 
stones sticks  in  my  memory  unpleasantly.  I  am 
afraid  it  would  be  just  that.'' 

To  which  he  replied  from  De  Aar: 

'  There  is  a  dignity  about  monuments  which 
is  soothing.  My  former  remarks  were  ill-con- 
sidered. You  might  do  worse  than  walk  among 
memories.  Try  the  Zuurberg  again,  and  tell  me 
what  you  feel  in  respect  to  resuscitated  emotions. 
I  would  suggest  that  you  came  up  here,  but  it 
is  a  long  journey  and  too  hot  for  the  time  of 
the  year." 

Clearly  he  did  not  want  her  to  join  him.  That 
thought  wounded  her.  It  had  been  in  her  mind 
when  she  told  him  of  her  indecision  that  he  might 
propose  meeting  somewhere  ;  that  he  made  no 


150  The  Stronger  Influence 

such  proposal  seemed  to  prove  that  he  did  not 
desire  to  see  her.  She  felt  vexed  with  herself 
for  having  mentioned  the  subject  to  him.  Once 
again  the  feeling  of  having  been  snubbed  by  this 
man  tormented  her.  In  the  old  days  it  had 
caused  her  indignation,  but  now  it  hurt. 

The  question  of  her  holiday  became  a  matter 
for  debate  in  her  mind.  She  no  longer  desired 
to  go  to  the  Zuurberg ;  but  the  fear  that  he 
might  read  in  a  change  of  plan  her  reason  for 
deciding  against  it  stiffened  her  resolve  to  do 
what  she  did  not  want  to  do.  The  Zuurberg 
had  not  lost  its  attraction  for  her ;  but  it  would 
be,  she  knew,  haunted  with  memories,  where  the 
ghosts  of  old  pleasures  would  meet  her  at  every 
turn. 

Fear  of  these  ghosts  prompted  her  to  suggest 
taking  the  children  with  her,  a  proposal  which 
led  to  a  wordy  discussion  as  to  ways  and  means. 
Their  father  did  not  consider  change  necessary  for 
them.  Rose  disputed  this  ;  she  wished  them  to  go. 

"  Other  people's  children  go  away/'  she  insisted 
finally  on  a  softer  note.  "If  we  can't  afford  a 
holiday  for  ourselves  we  ought  to  let  them  have 
one.  I  think  we  might  manage  it,  Jim,  don't  you  ?  " 

This  direct  appeal  from  her,  to  which  he  was 
unaccustomed,  took  him  aback.  He  was  indeed 
surprised  into  acquiescing.  In  the  end  he  spoke 
as  if  it  had  been  his  wish  all  along.  Later,  when 


The  Stronger  Influence  151 

he  left  the  room,  Rose  looked  across  at  her  sister 
and  smiled  quietly. 

"  That  was  accomplished  through  the  exercise 
of  a  little  of  the  tact  you  advocate,"  she  said. 

"  It's  worth  it,  don't  you  think  ?  "  Esme 
returned,  and  laughed.  "  All  he  needs  is  manage- 
ment." 

"  Most  men,  I  suppose,  need  that.  You  can't 
drive  them  in  the  direction  you  wish,  but  if  you 
can  make  them  believe  it's  the  way  they  want 
to  go,  they  start  off  at  the  gallop.  Funny  animals, 
aren't  they  ?  " 

"  Some  of  them  are  rather  nice,"  Esm6  ventured. 

"  Some  of  them — perhaps.  But  you  don't 
know ;  you  aren't  married.  A  girl  never  really 
knows  a  man — knows  him,  I  mean,  for  what  he 
is  underneath  the  veneer  of  social  pretences  until 
she  has  lived  with  him.  Then  little  things  peep 
out,  selfishnesses — like  ugly  excrescences  upon  the 
smooth  surfaces  you  fancied  were  rather  fine  and 
noble.  A  man  when  he  is  a  lover  is  all  chivalrous 
gentleness.  Well,  the  chivalry  is  mostly  veneer. 
Jim  always  gives  up  his  seat  in  a  tram  to  a  woman ; 
when  he  is  in  his  own  home,  you  may  have  noticed, 
he  takes  the  most  comfortable  chair.  They  have  to 
relax  sometimes,  you  see  ;  it  isn't  possible  to  live 
up  to  that  level  always.  I'd  rather  a  man  were  a 
bear  outside  the  home  and  considerate  in  it.  There 
are  such  men,  I  suppose,  but  I  haven't  met  them." 


152  The  Stronger  Influence 

'  There  are  such  men,"  Esm6  repeated,  and 
thought  of  Hallam's  lack  of  social  manner.  She 
wondered  whether  the  gentleness  which  she  knew 
to  be  in  him  would  manifest  itself  in  the  home. 
She  could  not  imagine  him  behaving  altogether 
selfishly  towards  any  one  for  whom  he  cared. 

"  Husbands  want  training,  like  children,"  Rose 
went  on.  "  I  didn't  train  my  man  ;  I  began  by 
spoiling  him.  That's  where  most  girls  make  a 
mistake.  Then,  when  the  babies  come,  the  spoil- 
ing ceases  generally.  But  the  harm  is  done.  I 
have  often  observed  that  the  husbands  of  selfish 
women  are  a  long  way  the  nicest.  Men  like  peace  ; 
they  will  sacrifice  a  great  deal  in  order  to  get 
it." 

"It  is  rather  an  agreeable  thing,"  Esme  said, 
reflecting  that  a  little  more  of  it  in  her  sister's 
household  would  make  life  pleasanter. 

"  I  dare  say  it  is ;  but  it  can't  be  had  on  an 
insufficient  income.  If  you  like  peace  so  much, 
why  do  you  take  the  children  with  you  on  your 
holiday  ?  You  won't  get  peace  where  they  are." 

"  Oh  !  we'll  get  along.  We  shall  be  out  all 
day,  and  there  will  be  other  children  for  them  to 
play  with.  They  won't  worry  me." 

"  It's  nice  of  you  to  be  bothered  with  them," 
Rose  said.  She  scrutinized  her  sister  closely,  and, 
curiosity  getting  the  upper  hand,  asked  bluntly : 
"  Where  is  Paul  Hallam  now  ?  " 


The  Stronger  Influence  153 

"  On  the  Karroo,"  Esme  answered,  surprised. 
"  Why  ?  " 

"  I  didn't  know.  I  thought  perhaps  you  might 
meet  at  the  Zuurberg." 

"  No.     He  left  there  long  ago." 

"  Well,  but  he  might  have  felt  it  worth  his 
while  to  go  back  when  you  were  there.  I  don't 
understand  that  affair,  Esme.  I  don't  trust  the 
man.  My  dear  I  don't  trust  him.  And  you  are 
wearing  yourself  out,  thinking  of  him.  You  are 
losing  your  vitality.  You  aren't  as  pretty  as  you 
were.  No."  She  surveyed  the  girl  fixedly  with 
adversely  criticizing  eyes.  '  You  are  not  so  pretty." 

This  came  as  a  shock  to  Esme.  She  wanted 
to  look  in  the  glass  over  the  mantelpiece  ;  but 
her  sense  of  dignity  and  the  fitness  of  things  kept 
her  glued  to  her  seat.  What,  after  all,  did  it  matter 
if  her  looks  departed  ?  There  was  no  one  to  note 
these  things  nor  feel  distressed  on  their  account. 
'  Why  does  he  continue  to  write  to  you,  and 
never  come  to  see  you  ?  "  Rose  asked.  "  It's 
not  fair  to  you.  And  there's  George.  ...  If 
it  wasn't  for  Paul  Hallam  you  would  marry 
George.  He  is  a  good  fellow,  and  he's  getting 
on.  It  would  be  a  most  suitable  arrangement. 
You  don't  want  to  teach  all  your  life.  You  want 
a  home.  Every  woman  does.  Instead  you  fill 
your  head  with  romantic  nonsense,  and  make 
yourself  miserable,  and  George  miserable — for  a 


154  ^he  Sfrongff  Influence 

man  who  doesn't  care.  You  could  forget  him  if 
you  left  off  corresponding.  Why  do  you  let  him 
play  with  you  ?  " 

"  He  doesn't  play  with  me,"  Esme  answered, 
flushing.  "  He  never  asked  me  for  anything  more 
than  friendship.  I  give  him  that  because  it  is  a 
help  to  him,  and  because  he  is  lonely.  Why 
cannot  a  man  and  a  girl  be  friends  ?  " 

"  I  should  have  thought  your  own  case  fur- 
nished an  answer  to  that,"  Rose  said.  "  In  a 
friendship  between  a  man  and  a  girl  one  of  them 
invariably  falls  in  love.  You  can't  get  away 
from  nature.  The  eternal  question  of  sex  hides 
behind  all  these  unequal  friendships.  That's  what 
makes  them  interesting.  But  these  interesting 
relationships  can  spoil  one's  life.  I  wish  that  you 
had  never  met  this  man.  I  feel  uneasy  about  it." 

Esme  sat  in  an  attitude  of  disturbed  attention, 
and  kept  her  eyes  studiously  averted  from  her 
sister's.  There  was  just  sufficient  reason  in  her 
discursive  statements  to  cause  the  girl  to  wince 
mentally.  She  was  beginning  to  believe  that  she 
was  giving  more  than  Paul  Hallam  wanted  from 
her,  more  than  he  dreamed  of  when  he  proposed 
continuing  the  friendship.  This  thought  was 
humiliating ;  but  only  temporarily  so :  even  as 
she  felt  its  sting  another  thought  drew  the  venom 
from  it.  If  she  could  help  him,  even  a  little, 
it  was  worth  while. 


The  Stronger  Influence  XVII 

"  'TT^O  revisit  a  familiar  spot  is  like  walking 
L  among  tombstones.  Every  point  recalls 
a  memory,  and  memory  belongs  to  the  past." 

Very  vividly,  like  something  heard  long  ago 
but  never  before  realized,  these  words  which 
Hallam  had  uttered  on  the  morning  she  left  the 
Zuurberg  all  those  weary  months  before,  echoed 
in  Esme*'s  thoughts  when  she  made  her  second 
journey  up  the  mountain  road.  The  truth  of 
them  struck  her  like  a  thing  which  hurts.  Her 
memories  came  back  to  her,  as  he  had  said  they 
would,  with  the  dust  on  them.  And  there  was 
no  evading  them  ;  they  obtruded  at  every  point. 

At  Coerney  there  was  the  same  wait  under  the 
trees  before  the  cart  was  ready  to  start ;  the 
same  languid  stillness  brooded  over  the  place,  the 
same  enervating  heat.  Here  was  the  first  tomb- 
stone. She  looked  about  her  with  reminiscent 
eyes,  marked  the  spot  where  she  had  sat  with 
Hallam  while  they  waited  for  the  train  to  come  in, 
realized  the  crowd  of  new  impressions  which  jostled 
the  memories  in  her  brain,  and  fell  into  thought. 

155 


156  The  Stronger  Influence 

The  children  were  busy  exploring.  The  sound 
of  their  gay,  excited  voices  came  to  her  distantly 
on  the  languid  air.  But  she  could  not  see  them  ; 
their  figures  were  hidden  among  the  trees. 

Everything  was  much  the  same  as  on  her 
former  visit.  There  were  two  other  travellers 
beside  her  party :  they  had  gone  into  the  hotel 
for  refreshments.  Presently  they  came  out.  The 
horses  appeared  with  the  driver,  and  the  business 
of  inspanning  began.  The  children  wandered 
back  and  became  actively  interested  in  these 
proceedings.  John  wished  to  drive :  a  com- 
promise was  effected  by  his  being  allowed  to  sit 
beside  the  driver  and  hold  the  whip.  Then 
began  the  toil  upward. 

With  every  mile  of  the  journey  memories  came 
crowding  back  into  Esme's  mind,  a  dismal  pro- 
cession of  pale  ghosts  that  came  and  went  and 
left  a  feeling  of  greater  loneliness  when  they 
passed.  These  memories  of  her  first  glowing 
impressions,  when  excitement  and  a  sense  of 
adventure  had  coloured  her  imagination,  gave 
to  the  present  occasion  a  sort  of  flatness :  the 
wonder  of  romance  was  missing  from  the  picture. 
She  looked  about  her  with  intent,  mystified  eyes. 
Everywhere  there  were  tombstones ;  they  met 
her  all  along  the  route. 

Yet  the  beauty  of  the  place  remained 
unchanged.  The  wild  grandeur  of  the  scenery, 


The  Stronger  Influence  157 

the  magnificent  solitude,  the  almost  terrifying 
depths  of  the  chasm  which  lost  itself  in  the  froth 
of  green  below,  these  things  impressed  her  as 
they  had  impressed  her  before  with  a  wondering 
admiration  that  held  something  of  awe  in  it ;  but 
whereas  before,  though  she  had  believed  herself  to 
be  lonely,  hope  had  travelled  with  her  as  a  com- 
panion ;  on  this  occasion  there  was  no  joyful 
anticipation  in  her  heart,  only  a  sense  of 
disappointment  that  the  finish  of  the  journey 
promised  nothing  more  than  the  usual  holiday 
offers — rest  and  change  from  the  ordinary  busy  life. 

She  wished,  with  an  urgency  no  less  insistent 
because  of  its  futility,  that  she  had  decided  on 
some  other  place — any  other  place — in  which 
to  spend  her  holiday.  The  mountain  road  was 
haunted  with  the  ghosts  of  dead  pleasures  ;  the 
gorge  was  haunted ;  its  secret  places  were  the 
repositories  for  the  thoughts  of  yesterday,  for 
the  dreams  which  pass  with  the  night. 

She  gazed  down  into  the  black-green  silences 
and  felt  her  despondency  deepen.  These  familiar 
things  linked  up  her  life  so  completely  with  the 
one  brief  romance  it  had  ever  known.  She 
could  not  disentangle  her  thoughts  from  the 
past.  Everywhere  her  eyes  turned,  each  fresh 
curve  in  the  road,  brought  back  recollections  of 
Hallam,  and  of  their  drive  down  the  mountain 
together.  What  was  he  doing  now  ?  Where 


158  The  Stronger  Influence 

was  he,  while  she  was  being  borne  higher  and 
higher  up  the  steep  ascent  ? 

Every  now  and  again  the  children  turned  in 
their  seats  to  flash  some  question  at  her,  or  to 
point  out  some  amazing  novelty  which  caught 
their  eager  attention.  The  big  tree  across  the 
road,  which  cut  through  its  giant  trunk,  was  a 
source  of  wonder  and  delight  to  them.  John 
forgot  his  dignity  and  allowed  himself  to  be 
impressed  by  its  dimensions. 

"  Man !  but  they  can  grow  trees  up  this  way/' 
he  remarked  to  the  driver. 

Whereat  the  driver  unbent  so  far  as  to  permit 
him  to  drive  under  the  tree.  Whatever  his  aunt 
thought  about  it,  John  thoroughly  enjoyed  the 
experience  of  that  journey  up  the  mountain  road. 
But  when  the  hotel  broke  first  upon  his  sight  he 
was  a  little  disappointed  by  its  unpretentious 
appearance. 

"  It  isn't  very  big.  It's  just  like  an  ordinary 
house,"  he  complained. 

"  I  expect  you'll  find  there  is  room  enough  for 
you  inside,"  Esme  said. 

"  Gimme  my  suit-case.  I'll  go  and  find  out," 
John  replied. 

The  cart  drew  up  before  the  entrance.  John 
scrambled  down  and  waited  impatiently  for  his 
luggage.  He  had  never  owned  a  suit-case  before. 
He  insisted  upon  carrying  it.  This  delayed  the 


The  Stronger  Influence  159 

party.  Esme  was  obliged  to  wait  while  the  cart 
was  unloaded,  until  John's  baggage  came  to  light 
and  was  given  into  his  care.  Declining  assist- 
ance, he  struggled  with  his  burden  manfully  up 
the  short  path,  and,  flushed  and  a  little  short  of 
breath,  deposited  it  on  the  stoep  with  an  air  of 
satisfaction.  Some  one  came  forward  and  offered 
to  carry  it  inside  for  him  ;  but  John  was  distrust- 
ful of  these  overtures. 

"  I  can  manage,"  he  said  politely,  to  the  amuse- 
ment of  a  man  who  was  seated  on  the  stoep, 
"  if  you'll  show  me  the  way,  please." 

Before  following  his  conductor  he  looked  round 
for  his  aunt  and  sister ;  and  the  man  who  had 
shown  amusement  looked  in  the  same  direction, 
and  then  stood  up.  John  was  not  interested  in 
the  stranger's  movements ;  he  was  anxious  to 
go  inside  and  unpack  ;  but  the  others  were  so 
slow  in  coming.  Mary  had  halted  in  the  path 
to  fondle  an  amazingly  fat  white  cat.  John  was 
not  keen  on  cats  ;  he  preferred  a  dog.  He  wished 
they  would  hurry  up. 

"  John,"  Mary's  shrill  voice  called  on  a  note 
of  enthusiasm,  "  it's  the  darlingest  thing,  and 
it's  called  Snowflake." 

"  Oh,  come  on  !  "  John  returned. 

Mary  came  on  at  a  run,  and  Esme  followed 
leisurely.  And  then  another  delay  occurred. 
John's  patience  was  exhausted.  Girls  were  all 


160  The  Stronger  Influence 

alike,  he  reflected  scornfully ;  they  made  a  fuss 
over  everything  they  met.  He  did  not  under- 
stand why  his  aunt  should  stop  to  speak  to  the 
man  who  had  been  seated  on  the  stoep,  and  who 
now  stepped  off  the  stoep  and  went  to  meet  her. 
It  seemed  as  though  she  had  forgotten  that  he 
was  waiting  for  her  to  go  in  with  him. 

She  had  stopped  still  in  the  path  and  was 
talking  to  the  man.  She  had  forgotten  John 
and  his  suit-case  altogether ;  she  had  forgotten 
everything.  The  weary  months  of  waiting  had 
slipped  out  of  the  picture  ;  the  present  had  rolled 
back  into  the  past.  She  was  back  in  the  old 
spot  with  the  man  beside  her  whose  presence 
made  for  her  the  magic  of  the  place.  The  ghosts 
which  had  met  and  mocked  her  on  the  journey 
were  finally  laid  to  rest. 

Hallam  had  come  down  the  path  quickly,  and 
stood  in  front  of  her  and  blocked  her  way.  She 
stood  still,  flushed  and  wondering,  and  looked 
at  him  with  eyes  which  told  a  tale. 

"  I  began  to  think  you  hadn't  come,"  he  said. 

"  Oh !  "  she  said,  and  held  out  a  hand  with  a 
slightly  nervous  laugh.  "  I  never  expected  to  see 
you.  Why  didn't  you  tell  me  ?  ' 

"  I  was  coming  to  the  station  to  meet  you," 
he  said,  "but  the  cart  went  away  fairly  loaded. 
I  have  been  sitting  here  waiting  for  you  for  the 
past  two  days.  What  do  you  suppose  I  meant, 


Ike  Stronger  Influence  161 

you  dense  little  thing,  when  I  advised  you  to 
take  your  holiday  here  ?  Do  you  think  I'd  have 
left  you  to  wander  alone  among  the  musty  relics 
you  dreaded  ?  .  .  .  I  am  going  to  take  you 
to-morrow  morning  to  see  the  sun  rise,"  he  added 
in  a  lighter  tone. 

Esme  laughed  happily. 

"  I  haven't  seen  the  sun  rise  since  the  last 
time  we  saw  it  together,"  she  said,  and  scrutinized 
him  for  the  first  time  with  unwavering  eyes. 

She  thought  him  looking  extremely  well  and 
fit.  He  appeared  younger  and  altogether  more 
sure  of  himself.  And  the  stoop  of  the  shoulders 
was  less  noticeable ;  he  carried  himself  better. 
He  met  her  eyes  and  smiled. 

"  I  rather  suspected  your  early  morning  activity 
was  a  cultivation,"  he  said.  "  It  is  possible, 
I  have  found,  to  discard  habits  as  well  as  to 
cultivate  them." 

That  was  the  only  reference  he  made  to  the 
long  months  he  had  spent  fighting  his  baser  self. 
He  did  not  know  whether  she  caught  the  drift 
of  his  remark.  It  did  not  seem  to  him  to  matter 
much.  There  was  manifestly  very  little  need 
for  explanations  on  either  side.  They  took  one 
another  for  granted.  They  took  their  love  for 
one  another  for  granted  ;  it  stood  revealed,  a 
thing  which  needed  no  words,  which  expressed 
itself  mutely  in  their  satisfaction  in  one  another. 

11 


162  The  Stronger  Influence 

They  gazed  into  each  other's  eyes,  and  there  was 
no  shadow  of  doubt  in  their  minds  at  all. 

"  You  are  looking  well,"  she  said. 

"  Yes,"  he  said ;  "I  feel  well.  I  feel  amaz- 
ingly, extravagantly  well.  So  do  you.  You're 
radiant.  That's  because  we  are  feeling  so 
extremely  pleased,  both  of  us,  with  life  and  with 
ourselves, — particularly  with  ourselves.  We  are 
going  to  have  the  best  of  times  together.  I  have 
been  looking  forward  to  this  for  months.  And 
now  you're  here.  ...  It  is  almost  as  if  we  had 
never  parted.  It's  better,  really ;  the  break 
brings  us  nearer.  It's  just  good." 

The  happiness  which  she  felt  shone  in  her  face. 
She  looked  about  her  at  the  familiar  little  garden, 
at  the  homely  comfortable  hotel,  and  the  small 
stoep  in  front  of  the  house,  where  John  and  Mary 
waited,  John  seated  on  the  steps  with  his  precious 
suit-case  beside  him.  Then  she  looked  back  into 
the  man's  face,  and  her  eyes  were  grave  and 
tender  when  they  met  his. 

"  I  had  forgotten  the  children,"  she  said. 

He  glanced  over  his  shoulder. 

"The  little  chap  with  the  suit-case,"  he  said. 
"  And  the  girl — yes.  Who  are  they  ?  " 

She  explained  them. 

"  I  brought  them  with  me  to  keep  away  the 
ghosts,"  she  said. 

He  laughed. 


The  Stronger  Influence  163 

"  Well,  they  are  here.  I  wish  they  weren't ; 
but  we'll  make  the  best  of  it.  It  doesn't  very 
much  matter.  The  sooner  they  get  used  to  me 
and  the  situation,  the  better.  If  there  is  any 
one  sufficiently  good-natured  to  foster  them  we 
will  shift  our  responsibilities.  I  am  going  to 
monopolize  you.  I've  been  lonely  ever  since  I 
said  good-bye  to  you  at  Coerney." 

He  turned  and  walked  beside  her  up  the  short 
path  to  the  stoep. 

"I'm  glad  to  have  you  back,"  he  said. 

John  and  Mary,  staring  with  round-eyed 
curiosity  at  the  pair  as  they  advanced,  wondered 
why  their  aunt  looked  so  shy,  and  why  she 
coloured  suddenly  from  neck  to  brow  and  looked 
down  and  spoke  softly. 

"It's  good  to  be  back,"  she  replied. 

They  came  to  a  halt  at  the  steps ;  and  John, 
remembering  his  manners,  stood  up,  but  con- 
tinued to  stare,  unabashed. 

'This  is  John,"  Esme  said  with  greater  con- 
fidence ;    and  John  held  out  a  small,  hot  hand. 

"  How  d'ye  do  ?  '  he  said,  as  one  man  tc 
another. 


The  Stronger  Influence  XVIII 

THE  young  Bainbridges  were  not  slow  in 
coming  to  a  conclusion  in  regard  to  the 
condition  of  affairs  between  Hallam  and  their 
aunt.  John  pronounced  Hallam  as  being  "  all 
right  " ;  Mary  thought  him  old.  But  then  her 
aunt  was  rather  old  also  ;  aunts  are  not  girls. 
Mary  viewed  this  mature  romance  with  feminine 
curiosity.  She  thought  it  odd,  but  immensely 
interesting.  She  dogged  their  footsteps. 

"  I  believe  Mr.  Hallam  is  in  love  with  Auntie," 
she  confided  to  John,  who  probably  unaided 
would  not  have  discovered  this  surprising  fact. 

"  I  wonder !  "  John  said,  and  pondered  the 
announcement.  "  I  think  I'll  ask  him,"  he  added. 

He  took  an  early  opportunity  of  doing  so.  He 
waylaid  the  pair,  returning  from  their  morning 
walk,  and  planted  himself  in  front  of  Hallam, 
looking  squarely  up  at  him,  with  his  hands  in  his 
pockets,  in  an  attitude  so  reminiscent  of  his 
father  as  to  move  Esme  to  merriment.  Her 
laugh  ended  in  a  strangled  gurgle  when  John 
spoke. 

164 


The  Stronger  Influence  165 

"  Are  you  going  to  marry  Auntie,  Mr. 
Hallam  ?  '  John  asked  with  a  directness  that 
would  have  disconcerted  most  people,  but  at 
which  Hallam  only  smiled. 

"  I  am,"  he  answered.  "  I  hope  you  don't 
object  ?  " 

"  No  ;  that's  all  right,"  John  said  amiably. 
"  I  only  wanted  to  know." 

And  then  he  wandered  off  to  join  Mary  and 
impart  the  result  of  his  inquiries  to  her.  Hallam 
looked  at  Esme,  and  turned  about  abruptly,  and 
proceeded  to  walk  with  her  away  from  the  hotel. 

"  I  think,"  she  said  hesitatingly,  "  that  I  ought 
to  go  in." 

"  Not  yet,"  he  said.  "  I  want  to  talk  to  you. 
You  may  think  that  that  was  an  odd  sort  of 
proposal ;  but  the  little  chap  forced  my  hand. 
It  is  amazing  how  sharp  children  are.  Did  you 
mind  ?  " 

"  No,"  she  replied,  confused  but  extraordinarily 
happy.  "  I  was  a  little  unprepared  though." 

They  had  both  taken  things  so  much  for  granted 
that  she  had  not  noticed  that  he  had  never 
definitely  asked  her  to  marry  him.  That  part 
of  it  did  not  seem  to  matter. 

"  You  knew,"  he  said,  "  how  things  were  ?  I 
think  we  both  assumed  it  from  the  moment  you 
arrived.  But  John  has  put  matters  on  a  business- 
like footing.  I  said  I  meant  to  marry  you.  I 


1 66  The  Stronger  Influence 

do — if  you'll  take  me.  You  know  what  I  am. 
I  think  you  know  more  about  me  than  any  one. 
Any  good  that  is  in  me  is  of  your  making " 

"  No,"  she  interrupted  quickly.  But  he  took  no 
heed  of  that,  and  went  on  as  if  she  had  not  spoken. 

"  When  I  met  you  I  was  drifting.  No  other 
influence,  I  believe,  could  have  pulled  me  up. 
It  was  not  merely  that  you  made  me  realize  the 
folly  of  wasting  my  life  ;  you  opened  my  mind  to 
more  than  that.  I  have  come  to  see  that  man 
has  a  duty  towards  his  fellow-men ;  that  he  has 
got  to  serve  the  community  :  if  he  serve  it  ill, 
he  plays  a  mean  part ;  if  his  service  be  good  he 
doesn't  merit  praise,  he  is  simply  doing  his  job. 
You  have  pulled  me  out  of  the  mire ;  now  that 
I  have  cleaned  some  of  the  mud  off  I  want  you 
to  take  me  by  the  hand  and  continue  the  journey 
with  me.  There  isn't  any  need  for  me  to  say  in 
words  that  I  love  you.  I  think  you  guessed  that 
long  ago." 

He  looked  down  and  saw  her  face  all  flushed 
and  confused,  with  eyes,  too  shy  to  meet  his  own, 
lowered  till  the  lashes  touched  her  cheeks.  He 
longed  to  take  her  in  his  arms  and  kiss  her ;  but 
the  open  road  was  ill  suited  to  his  purpose,  and 
he  decided  to  wait. 

"  Dear,  will  you  marry  me  ?  "  he  asked. 

For  one  fleeting  moment  she  lifted  her  eyes  to 
his  face,  and  her  look  was  so  sweet  and  so  gravely 


The  Stronger  Influence  167 

tender  when  it  met  his  that  his  longing  increased. 
Then  she  looked  away  again  and  answered  softly  : 

"  Yes." 

Bald  little  monosyllable,  which  was  all  her  lips 
could  utter  though  her  heart  was  filled  with  love 
for  him  ;  but  it  sufficed  for  Hallam.  He  pressed 
closer  to  her  and  bent  down  over  her  and  touched 
her  hand. 

"  I  want  to  kiss  you/'  he  muttered.  "I'm 
longing  to  kiss  your  lips." 

She  looked  up,  startled,  and  moved  a  little 
away  from  him.  The  passionate  urgency  in  his 
voice  was  so  altogether  unexpected  and  unfamiliar 
that  she  felt  disquieted.  She  was  afraid  of  being 
seen  from  the  hotel. 

"Not  now,"  she  faltered.  "Wait,  I  haven't 
got  used  to  the  idea  yet.  Not  now." 

He  laughed  quietly. 

"  Little  duffer  !  "  he  said.  "  Do  you  suppose 
I  am  going  to  make  love  to  you  in  front  of  the 
windows  of  the  hotel?  I'll  wait — until  we  are 
alone.  Then  .  .  ." 

Voice  and  eyes  were  eloquent.  There  was  an 
air  of  confident  mastery  about  him.  She  felt 
increasingly  shy  of  him.  He  seemed  suddenly 
to  loom  bigger,  to  express  qualities  of  a  virile 
and  dominating  nature  which  she  had  not  sus- 
pected were  in  him.  It  was  as  though  he  put 
out  a  hand  and  took  her  heart  in  it  and  held  it  in 


1 68  The  Stronger  Influence 

a  firm  grasp.  It  frightened  her  just  a  little. 
Her  breath  came  quicker  and  her  pulses  beat  fast. 
They  turned  about  and  started  to  walk  back. 

"  I  think  we  had  better  go  and  have  some 
breakfast,"  he  said,  with  an  amused  look  at  her 
confused  face.  "  If  we  delay  any  longer  we  shall 
be  faced  with  more  awkward  questions  from 
young  John.  After  breakfast  we  will  go  in  search 
of  solitude  and  have  our  talk.  There  are  endless 
things  I  want  to  say  to  you." 

They  entered  the  hotel,  separating  at  the  door 
to  meet  again  at  the  breakfast-table.  It  was  a 
silent  meal  so  far  as  they  were  concerned,  as 
silent  as  those  meals  through  which  they  had 
sat  in  the  early  days  of  their  acquaintance,  when 
the  man  had  maintained  a  moody  aloofness  pain- 
fully embarrassing  to  his  companion.  She  felt 
no  embarrassment  any  longer  when  he  did  not 
talk  at  table,  and  the  chatter  of  the  children  made 
conversation  difficult. 

She  was  glad  on  that  particular  occasion  that 
she  had  the  children  to  distract  her  attention. 
She  felt  so  extraordinarily  shy  of  the  man  beside 
her,  shy  of  the  accepted  position  of  their  new 
relations.  She  felt  that  she  must  drag  out  the 
meal  indefinitely :  she  wanted  to  postpone  that 
walk.  But  Hallam  held  altogether  different 
views ;  and  presently  he  got  up  and  prepared  to 
leave  the  table. 


The  Stronger  Influence  169 

"Hurry  up!"  he  said.  "  You'll  find  me 
waiting  for  you  on  the  stoep." 

Then  he  went  out,  and  she  found  herself  con- 
fronted with  the  problem  of  disposing  of  John 
and  Mary  for  the  morning.  They  were  desirous 
of  accompanying  her.  The  situation  held  an 
absorbing  interest  for  them. 

"  I  am  going  to  be  your  bridesmaid,  Auntie," 
Mary  said,  fascinated  with  the  prospect  of  a 
wedding  looming  in  the  near  future.  "  And  wear 
a  blue  dress,"  she  added. 

John's  face  became  grimly  resolute. 

"  Mr.  Hallam  needn't  count  on  me  for  best 
man,"  he  announced.  "  I'm  off  that." 

Esme"  left  them  to  the  discussion  of  these 
weighty  matters  under  the  sympathetic  guardian- 
ship of  a  visitor  at  the  hotel,  who  had  children 
of  her  own  and  did  not  mind  an  addition  to  the 
party,  and  joined  Hallam.  They  set  out  together 
on  their  first  walk  since  their  engagement. 

For  a  time  they  walked  in  silence,  both  of  them 
a  little  impressed  with  the  strangeness  of  the  new 
situation.  Hallam 's  face  was  grave  and  thought- 
ful, and  every  now  and  again  he  turned  to  the 
girl  with  a  curious  eagerness  in  his  eyes,  and  an 
added  tenderness  in  the  look  he  gave  her. 

It  was  altogether  a  memorable  and  wonderful 
occasion.  He  liked  the  shyness  of  her  mood.  It 
surprised  and  amused  him  to  see  her  eyes  droop 


170  The  Stronger  Infliience 

before  his  gaze,  and  the  colour  come  and  go  in 
her  cheeks.  He  had  known  her  before  only  as  a 
very  self-possessed  young  woman ;  but  she 
revealed  to  him  that  morning,  as  he  revealed  to 
her,  new  and  unexpected  qualities  that  were 
profoundly  interesting.  Again  there  came  over 
him  the  longing  to  take  her  in  his  arms  and  hold 
her  close  against  his  heart. 

He  took  her  hand  when  they  were  well  away 
from  the  hotel,  and  they  walked  along  together 
thus  and  talked  disjointedly  and  a  trifle  self-con- 
sciously of  trivial  things.  Presently  Hallam  said  : 

"  I  am  going  back  with  you  when  you  leave. 
I  have  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  your  people. 
That  is  a  necessary  preliminary.  Afterwards  we 
will  speed  matters,  and  get  married  without  undue 
delay.  There  isn't  any  object  in  waiting,  is  there  ? 
I  don't  feel  that  I  can  wait.  I  want  you  so." 

"I'll  have  to  resign  my  position  as  music 
teacher,"  she  said.  '  There  is  nothing  else  to 
consider.  You  know,  I  can't  quite  realize  it 
yet.  It  all  seems  so  strange  and  wonderful." 

"  It  is  wonderful,"  he  answered  gravely.  "It's 
wonderful  to  me  that  you  should  love  me.  It 
seems  more  wonderful  still  that  you  trust  me. 
Your  belief  in  me  has  been  more  helpful  than  any 
sermon.  It  is  a  sermon.  It's  a  sort  of  religion. 
I've  leaned  on  you  .  .  .  you  little  thing,  whom 
I  could  pick  up  and  toss  over  my  shoulder ! 


The  Stronger  Influence  171 

Dear,  you'll  never  know  how  much  I  love  you.  I 
can't  put  it  into  words." 

She  squeezed  his  hand  understandingly.  It 
was  the  same  with  her.  She  could  never  have 
told  him  all  that  was  in  her  heart. 

"  There  isn't  any  need  for  words/'  she  said 
softly. 

"  No."  He  looked  at  her  quickly.  "  You  do 
understand,"  he  said.  '  You've  always  under- 
stood. From  the  first  we  seemed  to  strike  the 
same  thoughts  instinctively.  We  get  at  one 
another  somehow.  I  feel  as  if  I  had  known  you 
all  my  life." 

"  And  I,"  she  answered  with  a  shy  little  laugh, 
"  feel  that  I  am  only  beginning  to  know  you. 
Each  time  I  am  with  you  something  fresh  and 
unexpected  leaps  to  the  surface,  and  I've  got  to 
start  again  from  the  beginning  and  reconstruct 
all  my  ideas  of  you.  I  wonder  if  it  will  always 
be  like  that  ?  " 

"  You  will  find  me  consistent  in  one  respect 
anyhow,"  he  answered. 

He  drew  her  into  the  shadow  of  some  trees 
towards  which  their  steps  had  been  directed,  and 
came  to  a  halt  facing  her,  and  dropped  her  hand 
and  put  his  arms  around  her. 

"Now  .  .  ."  he  said. 

He  held  her  closely  and  for  the  first  time  kissed 
her  lips. 


The  Stronger  Influence  XIX 

ESME  was  married  from  her  sister's  house 
very  quietly,  and  with  what  Rose  con- 
sidered quite  unnecessary  haste.  The  whole  affair 
was  so  sudden  and  so  altogether  unexpected  that 
she  scarcely  knew  whether  to  be  the  more  pleased 
or  the  more  dismayed  by  her  sister's  change  of 
fortune.  She  never  felt  quite  at  ease  with 
her  future  brother-in-law,  and  in  her  heart  she 
regretted  that  it  was  not  George  Sinclair  upon 
whom  Esme's  choice  had  fallen.  Marriage  with 
Hallam  meant  a  more  complete  separation  from 
the  old  life  :  it  would  remove  the  girl  altogether 
from  her  former  associations.  While  she  recog- 
nized the  worldly  advantages  of  the  match  she 
resented  this :  had  Esme  married  Sinclair  they 
would  have  continued  in  touch  with  one  an- 
other. But  Hallam  intended  making  his  home 
in  Cape  Town,  in  one  of  the  suburbs,  after  a 
prolonged  honeymoon  spent  in  Europe.  The 
honeymoon,  she  gathered,  would  extend  over  a 
year. 

It  was  all  very  amazing  and  rather  wonderful. 

172 


Ihe  Stronger  Influence  173 

And  Esme"  appeared  to  be  supremely  happy ; 
that,  after  all,  was  the  chief  thing. 

Rose,  while  she  watched  from  her  seat  in 
church,  the  girl  standing  before  the  altar  beside 
the  man  whose  name  she  was  taking,  experienced 
a  curious  misgiving  which,  though  she  felt  it  to 
be  unreasonable,  she  could  not  shake  off.  Largely, 
she  believed,  she  was  influenced  by  something 
Sinclair  had  said  when  she  informed  him  of  Esme's 
engagement.  He  had  been  taken  by  surprise 
and  was  greatly  upset  by  the  news.  She  had 
very  vividly  in  her  memory  the  sight  of  his  face 
as  he  sat  and  stared  at  her  with  stunned,  blue  eyes, 
and  muttered  hoarsely  : 

"  My  God  !  .  .  .  Hallam  !  .  .  .  I  could  have 
stood  it  had  it  been  any  one  else." 

She  had  asked  him  what  he  meant,  what  he 
knew  of  Hallam  ?  And  he  had  answered  shortly, 
"  Nothing,"  and  gone  away  hurriedly.  She  had 
not  seen  him  since. 

That  this  scene  should  come  back  to  her  now, 
obtruding  itself  in  the  middle  of  the  marriage 
service,  struck  her  as  portentous.  What  had 
he  meant  ?  Some  other  emotion  deeper  than 
jealousy  had  moved  him  surely  to  speak  as  he 
had  done.  Her  eyes  rested  contemplatively  on 
Hallam 's  face.  It  was  a  fine  face,  a  strong  face, 
and  the  keen  eyes  were  reassuring.  The  slight 
stoop  of  the  shoulders  and  the  reserved  inward 


174  Ike  Stronger  Influence 

manner  of  the  man  suggested  the  scholar  and 
thinker.  Rose  believed  that  he  was  clever  ;  Jim 
said  so.  Neither  she  nor  her  husband  understood 
him  or  felt  at  ease  in  his  society.  He  displayed 
no  interest  in  any  of  the  family,  save  young  John, 
whose  conversation  seemed  to  amuse  him.  John 
and  he  remained  on  terms  of  frank  friendliness, 
marked  by  an  air  of  patronage  on  John's  side  and 
an  entire  absence  of  sentiment  on  the  part  of 
both.  But  in  relation  to  the  rest  he  was  the 
same  silent  unsociable  man  who  had  stayed  for 
months  at  the  Zuurberg  without  exchanging 
remarks  with  any  one. 

It  puzzled  Rose  to  understand  what  formed 
his  great  attraction  in  her  sister's  eyes.  That 
Esme  was  very  deeply  in  love  was  evident ;  she 
was  like  a  girl  suddenly  transformed ;  her  face 
was  alight  with  a  glow  of  happiness  which  made 
it  beautiful  even  to  Rose's  accustomed  eyes. 

Rose  sat  and  watched  her,  perplexed  and 
thoughtful,  with  the  strange  uneasiness  disturbing 
her  mind  and  distracting  her  thoughts  from  the 
service.  Why  she  should  feel  anxious  she  did  not 
know ;  unless  it  was  the  result  of  Sinclair's 
speech.  But  throughout  the  service  the  sense 
of  disaster  held  with  her,  and  later  in  the  vestry, 
when  the  bride  was  signing  the  register,  she 
experienced  an  overwhelming  desire  to  cry,  and 
shed  a  few  surreptitious  tears  with  the  vexed 


The  Stronger  Influence  175 

knowledge  that  Hallam  was  observant  of  her 
emotion.  Her  eyes  met  his  critical  gaze  a  little 
defiantly  with  a  faint  hostility  in  them  ;  and  she 
fancied  while  she  looked  back  at  him  that  a  shadow 
like  a  passing  regret  momentarily  crossed  his 
face.  Then  abruptly  he  turned  to  his  wife  and 
bent  down  and  spoke  to  her  and  smiled.  The 
shadow,  if  it  had  been  there,  had  left  his  face 
unclouded  as  before. 

The  wedding  party  drove  to  the  hotel  for  lunch, 
an  arrangement  which,  while  it  pleased  Jim 
exceedingly  and  met  with  the  delighted  approval 
of  the  children,  occurred  to  Rose  as  altogether 
irregular.  It  was  not  the  bridegroom's  duty  to 
provide  the  wedding-breakfast,  she  had  protested. 
But  her  husband  talked  her  objections  down  and 
overruled  them. 

"  Hallam  can  afford  to  do  it,"  he  insisted. 
'  Why  shouldn't  he  ?  We  can't  give  them  a 
champagne  breakfast  anyhow." 

Besides  the  Bainbridges  there  was  only  one 
other  guest,  in  the  person  of  the  best  man,  who 
was  called  Watkin,  and  whose  acquaintance  with 
the  bridegroom  seemed  of  the  slightest.  The 
absence  of  any  relation  or  intimate  friend  of 
Hallam  was  a  further  aggravation  to  Rose.  She 
looked  at  everything  through  dark-coloured 
glasses  that  day  :  no  one  else  did  :  even  John, 
whose  respect  for  Hallam  had  decreased  with 


176  The  Stronger  Influence 

the  latter's  deliberate  committal  of  matrimony, 
allowed  that  there  was  considerable  enjoyment  to 
be  got  out  of  other  people's  weddings  ;  the  lunch 
at  the  "  Grand  "  in  particular  appealed  to  him. 

Hallam  bore  himself  well  through  the  ordeal. 
Whatever  his  feelings  were  in  regard  to  his  wife's 
relations  he  managed  on  the  whole  to  conceal 
them  fairly  well.  Although  he  did  not  like  Jim 
Bainbridge,  and  did  not  understand  Rose  in  the 
remotest  degree — he  thought  her  disagreeable  and 
commonplace  and  as  unlike  her  sister  as  it  was 
possible  for  a  person  intimately  related  to  another 
to  be — it  pleased  him  to  entertain  them,  and  to 
note  that  they  did  full  justice  to  his  hospitality. 

Jim  drank  champagne,  to  which  he  was  unac- 
customed, and  became  surprisingly  talkative  and 
rather  noisy ;  and  Rose,  responding  to  the  same 
genial  influence,  relaxed,  and  forgot  for  a  time 
her  apprehensions. 

They  made  quite  a  merry  party  at  their  flower- 
decked  table  by  the  window,  which  opened  on  to 
the  stoep  and  looked  out  upon  the  well-kept 
garden  beyond.  It  was  so  near  the  finish  of  that 
part  of  Esme's  life  that  Hallam  was  content  to 
see  her  happily  surrounded  with  her  people,  and 
to  do  his  share  in  making  himself  agreeable ; 
but  he  longed  to  be  through  with  it  and  started 
on  the  journey  to  Cape  Town,  where  he  proposed 
staying  for  a  week  before  embarking  for  England. 


The  Stronger  Influence  177 

When  the  talk  was  at  its  noisiest  he  felt  Esme's 
hand  reaching  out  under  the  table  and  touching 
his  knee  ;  his  own  hand  went  down  and  closed 
over  it  warmly  while  their  eyes  met  in  an  under- 
standing smile.  She  felt  grateful  to  him  for  the 
effort  she  knew  he  was  making  for  her  sake  to 
play  his  part  well. 

'  Weddings,"  Jim  remarked  in  a  reminiscent 
vein,  "  always  recall  to  my  mind  the  day  I  took 
the  plunge.  Odd  sensation,  getting  married — 
uncertain  business — rather  like  backing  an  out- 
sider in  a  race.  You  hope  you've  drawn  a  prize  ; 
but  it's  all  a  chance  whether  you  have  or  not. 
It's  tying  a  knot  with  your  lips  which  you  can't 
untie  with  your  teeth.  A  man  gets  let  in  for  this 
sort  of  thing.  He  can't  help  himself.  He  gets 
a  sort  of  brain  fever,  and  there  it  is — done." 

His  wife  directed  a  meaning  glance  towards  his 
glass  and  smiled  dryly.  Hallam  took  up  the 
challenge. 

"  I  think  it  is  sometimes  the  woman  who  backs 
an  outsider,"  he  said.  "  But  a  light  hand  on  the 
rein  brings  many  a  doubtful  mount  past  the 
winning  post." 

'  You've  got  the  fever  all  right,"  Jim  returned. 
"  I  know  all  about  that.  I  had  it  in  its  most 
acute  form." 

"  Never  mind  that  old  complaint,"  Rose  said 
soothingly.  '  You  are  quite  cured  now." 

12 


178  The  Stronger  Influence 

'  That's  all  you  know  about  it,"  he  replied 
almost  aggressively.  '  That  fever  is  recurrent. 
Every  married  man  who  has  ever  experienced  it 
knows  that  the  germ  once  there  lies  latent  for  all 
time.  You  hear  of  married  people  drifting  apart. 
.  .  .  Well,  they  do,  you  know — often ;  but 
generally  they  drift  back  again — or  want  to. 
It's  usage.  You  get  fed  up — like  you  get  fed  up 
with  saying  your  prayers  every  night." — Young 
John  pricked  up  his  ears  and  became  interested 
in  the  talk. — "  You  leave  'em  off.  Well,  some 
time  or  other  you  come  back  to  them.  You 
want  to  come  back  to  them.  Prayer  and  love — 
they're  pretty  much  about  on  a  par." 

John's  interest  waned.  He  helped  himself  to 
fruit  and  disregarded  the  company. 

'  You  are  getting  somewhat  beyond  my 
depths,"  the  best  man  remarked.  '  These  things 
haven't  come  my  way." 

'  They  will,"  Jim  ventured  to  predict. 

The  best  man  looked  at  the  bride  and  laughed. 

"  I  hope  so,"  he  answered  gallantly ;  and 
introduced,  with  the  ease  of  the  man  of  the  world, 
a  lighter  note  into  the  talk. 

The  entire  party  drove  down  to  the  jetty  to 
see  Hallam  and  his  bride  embark.  When  she 
stood  on  the  steps  and  watched  her  sister  seated 
beside  Hallam  in  the  bobbing  launch,  smiling 
and  radiantly  happy,  Rose's  former  misgivings 


7" be  Stronger  Influence  179 

reasserted  themselves  and  remained  with  her 
while  she  looked  after  the  crowded  launch  steer- 
ing its  course  towards  the  mail  boat,  which  lay 
far  out  amid  the  ships  on  the  sunlit  blue  of  the 
sea. 

Hallam  turned  to  the  girl,  when  they  were  well 
away  from  the  shore,  with  a  look  of  glad  relief, 
and  saw  her  eyes,  happy  and  loving  and  trustful, 
lifted  to  his  in  sympathetic  understanding.  He 
smiled  down  at  her. 

"  It's  good  to  get  off,  to  be  alone  together," 
he  said.  '  The  thought  of  this  moment  has  kept 
me  going.  I  believed  we  should  never  be  through 
with  it  all." 

"  I  know,"  she  said  with  a  little  laugh.  "  But 
it's  over.  We  are  together,  Paul  ...  for  all 
our  lives." 

"  For  all  our  lives,"  he  repeated  ;  and,  oblivious 
of  the  crowd  about  them,  pressed  closer  against 
her  on  the  narrow  seat. 


Book  III 

The  Stronger  Influence  XX 

THE  fulness  of  life  made  perfect  by  a  perfect 
human  love  lifted  Esme  so  completely 
out  of  the  past  that  all  her  life  which  had  gone 
before  seemed  as  a  dream,  a  thing  indistinct  and 
distant,  with  the  haunting  sense  of  unreality 
which  clings  to  dreams  in  defiance  of  the  vivid 
impression  sometimes  left  on  the  mind.  To  look 
back  on  the  days  of  her  girlhood  was  like  looking 
back  on  the  life  of  some  one  else.  The  little  hot 
bedroom,  shaded  by  the  pink  oleander  tree,  the 
life  of  continuous  discords  in  her  sister's  home, 
the  daily  drudgery  of  instructing  unmusical 
pupils  in  an  art  they  would  never  acquire,  these 
things  were  as  remote  as  if  they  had  never  been. 
She  looked  back  on  those  days  wonderingly,  com- 
paring them  with  the  present ;  and  the  present 
seemed  the  more  beautiful  by  comparison  with 
those  earlier  years. 

After  their  year  of  wandering  Hallam  and  his 
wife  returned  to  the  Cape.     No  country  they  had 

181 


1 82  The  Stronger  Influence 

seen  appealed  to  either  with  the  same  magnetic 
attraction  which  the  Peninsular  held  for  both. 
The  house  which  Hallam  took  was  not  large  ; 
but  it  was  luxurious  in  its  appointments,  and 
was  beautifully  situated,  high,  and  surrounded 
with  fine  old  trees  which  afforded  shade  and 
coolness  on  the  hottest  day.  From  the  windows 
of  her  new  home,  as  from  the  garden,  Esme  had 
a  view  of  the  wide  blue  Atlantic  stretching  away 
endlessly  to  the  far  horizon  ;  while,  like  a  giant 
wall,  rugged  and  grey,  and  towering  in  its  immen- 
sity above  the  house,  as  it  towered  above  the  city, 
was  the  great  square  mountain,  blue-grey  in  the 
sunlight,  patterned  gorgeously  with  the  f  )wers 
which  carpeted  its  slopes.  And  at  night  there 
was  the  sea  still,  darkly  swelling,  mysterious, 
remote,  restless,  a  black  expanse  moving  cease- 
lessly under  the  motionless  star-lit  darkness  above  ; 
beating  with  passionate  energy  upon  the  shore 
and  tossing  its  foam-flecked  waters  against  the 
rocks  :  there,  too,  was  the  mountain,  stark  and 
dominating,  black  and  sharply  defined  against 
the  sky. 

Always  these  wonders  were  there,  and  always 
they  assumed  fresh  guises,  revealed  themselves 
in  new  and  surprising  aspects  with  the  varying 
seasons  and  the  shifting  light.  ,  It  was  good  to 
sit  out  on  the  stoep  in  the  warm  still  dusk  and 
enjoy  these  things  together  in  an  intimate  and 


The  Stronger  Influence  183 

undisturbed  solitude.  They  needed  nothing  else 
for  the  present,  desired  no  companionship  but 
each  other's.  Hallam  was  no  less  misanthropic 
than  before  his  marriage  ;  but  his  life  was  happier 
and  full  of  interest.  He  was  passionately  in  love  ; 
and  his  passion  poured  itself  out  in  daily  worship 
of  this  woman  who  gave  him  a  full  return,  whose 
passion  answered  to  his,  equalled  his  in  everything 
save  its  absorbed  concentration  on  the  individual 
to  the  exclusion  of  every  other  interest  in  life. 
To  shut  out  the  world  from  her  thoughts  entirely, 
as  Hallam  did,  was  not  possible  to  Esme.  She 
loved  life  and  her  fellow-beings.  Because  she 
loved  Paul  better  than  all  the  world,  with  a 
love  which  was  an  emotion  apart  and  different 
in  quality  from  anything  she  had  ever  known 
before,  she  could  not  close  her  heart  to  every 
outside  interest.  She  was  glad  always  to  be 
with  him,  glad  during  the  first  months  in  their 
own  home  to  have  him  to  herself  with  no  inter- 
ruptions from  the  world  beyond  their  walls. 
But  she  did  not  desire  to  lead  that  shut  in  life 
always.  She  wanted  to  go  about  among  people, 
and  to  have  him  go  with  her  ;  and  she  made  this 
clear  to  him  after  a  while  to  his  no  inconsiderable 
dismay. 

People  called  on  her,  and  she  returned  their 
calls — alone  ;  Hallam  refused  definitely  to  have 
any  share  in  that.  She  waived  the  point.  So 


184  The  Stronger  Influence 

many  men  evaded  this  social  duty  that  it  did 
not  seem  to  her  of  great  importance.  But  when 
dinner  and  other  invitations  began  to  arrive, 
and  he  as  flatly  declined  to  accept  them,  she  felt 
disappointed  and  showed  it.  She  wanted  to 
take  part  in  these  things,  and  his  objection  made 
her  participation  impossible. 

'  Why  should  you  want  to  go  ?  "  he  asked, 
with  passionate  resentment  in  his  tones,  on  an 
occasion  when  she  pressed  him  to  accept  an  invita- 
tion to  a  private  dance.  "  I  don't  want  to  go 
to  these  things.  I  don't  care  about  them.  I 
want  only  you.  Why  can't  you  be  content  with 
your  home  and  me  ?  Why  are  you  not  satis- 
fied ?  " 

f<  Oh,  Paul !  "  she  said,  and  entwined  his  arm 
with  both  her  arms  and  leaned  against  him  con- 
fidingly. "  You  know  I'm  satisfied.  But  we 
are  living  in  the  world,  dear  ;  we  can't  shut  our- 
selves off  from  it  entirely.  We  can't  live  just  for 
ourselves." 

"  Why  not  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  But — • — •"  she  protested,  and  looked  up  at 
him  with  puzzled  eyes.  "  How  can  we  ?  "  she 
asked.  '  We  must  take  our  part,  like  other 
people.  It  isn't  good  to  live  shut  off  :  it's  cramp- 
ing. I  love  you,  I  love  my  home  ;  but  I  want 
other  things.  I  want  to  see  and  talk  with  people. 
I  want  to  meet  other  women.  I  want  to — -gossip 


The  Stronger  Influence  185 

—about  the  things  women  love  discussing.  I 
want  to  show  off  my  clothes." 

'  You  show  them  off  to  me,"  he  said. 

She  laughed  softly. 

'  To  you  ! — >you  unappreciative  male  !  I've 
everything  in  life  to  make  a  woman  proud  and 
glad  and  happy  ;  and  I  want  the  world  to  know 
it.  I  long  to  parade  my  happiness,  as  a  manikin 
parades  the  fashions,  to  the  admiration  and  the 
envy  of  all  beholders.  Why  shouldn't  I  ?  Why 
shouldn't  I  dance,  boy  ?  I  love  dancing.  I'd 
love  to  dance  with  you." 

"  I  can't  dance,"  he  answered.  "  I  don't  do 
any  of  these  things." 

"  I'll  teach  you,"  she  volunteered.  "  It's  alto- 
gether simple.  You've  no  idea  how  simple  it  is, 
nor  how  lovely,  till  you  try." 

He  smiled  involuntarily. 

"  At  my  time  of  life  !  Imagine  it !  I  wondei 
what  you'll  ask  me  to  do  next  ?  " 

'  Well,  you  need  not  dance,"  she  urged.  '  You 
can  go  to  the  card  room." 

"  I  don't  care  about  cards,"  he  answered 
obstinately  and  with  a  note  of  hard  decision  in 
his  voice.  "  And  I  don't  like  the  idea  of  your 
dancing  with  other  men.  Can't  you  give  up  these 
things — 'for  me  ?  " 

His  objection  surprised  and  vexed  her.  It  was 
to  her  absurd  that  he  should  feel  jealous,  even 


1 86  The  Stronger  Influence 

slightly  jealous,  at  the  thought  of  her  dancing 
with  any  one  else.  She  felt  hurt.  Surely  he  had 
sufficient  evidence  of  her  love  to  trust  her  ? 
She  would  have  trusted  him  in  any  circum- 
stances in  her  confident  assurance  of  his  love  for 
her.  She  did  not  understand  the  temper  of  his 
love.  It  was  not  mistrust  of  her  that  moved  him 
to  object ;  it  was  dislike  of  the  thought  of  any 
other  man  touching  her,  holding  her  in  his  arms 
even  in  the  legitimate  exercise  of  dancing.  His 
passion  had  more  than  a  touch  of  the  primitive 
male  in  its  quality.  He  wanted  her  to  himself, 
shut  away  from  the  world,  content  to  be  alone 
with  him  always.  And  that  was  not  in  the  least 
Esme's  view  of  things  :  her  outlook  was  entirely 
modern  and  wholly  free  from  self -consciousness. 
She  saw  no  reason  why  she  should  not  enjoy  herself 
in  the  same  way  in  which  other  women  enjoyed 
life.  She  wanted  to  cure  Paul  of  his  misanthropy, 
not  to  cultivate  it  herself.  It  was  not  an  engaging 
quality  ;  it  was  even  a  little  ridiculous. 

"  I  would  give  up  anything  for  you,  Paul,  if 
there  was  a  good  reason  for  the  sacrifice,"  she 
said.  "  But  I  think  you  are  merely  prejudiced. 
You've  spent  so  much  time  alone  that  you've 
grown  used  to  solitude  ;  but  it  isn't  good  for  you. 
It  isn't  good  for  any  one.  We  can't  live  like  that 
— 'Shunning  people  as  if  we  had  something  to 
hide.  I  want  to  go  out,  and  I  want  to  invite 


The  Stronger  Influence  187 

people  here — not  very  often,  but  occasionally. 
Dear,  be  sensible.  You  gave  up  your  solitude 
when  you  married  me.  I  can't  let  you  slip  back 
again." 

He  moved  restlessly  and  disengaged  his  arm 
from  hers  and  stood  looking  across  the  garden 
into  space  and  frowning  heavily.  She  watched 
him  with  anxious  eyes.  After  more  than  a  year 
of  married  life  this  was  the  first  cloud  to  gather 
in  their  radiant  sky. 

'  You  can  go  where  you  please,"  he  said  un- 
graciously. '  I  never  supposed  you  cared  so 
much  for  these  things." 

"  I  can't  go  without  you,"  she  insisted. 

The  frown  on  his  brow  deepened. 
'  You  know  how  I  hate  that  sort  of  show," 
he     answered.     "  I've     always     avoided     social 
functions.     They  don't  interest  me." 

'  Very  well,"  she  said.  '  Then  I  must  decline 
the  invitation." 

He  swung  round  on  her  quickly  and  caught 
her  up  in  his  arms  and  held  her  tightly,  muttering 
against  her  lips,  and  punctuating  the  words  with 
kisses. 

"  Decline  it  ...  yes  ...  I  can't  let  the  world 
—any  one — come  between  you  and  me.  Why 
should  you  want  interests  apart  from  your  home  ? 
Your  home  is  here,  little  one,  in  the  depths  of 
mv  heart." 


1 88  The  Stronger  Influence 

She  felt  his  heart  thumping  against  his  chest, 
beating  hard  and  fast  as  the  heart  of  some  one 
labouring  under  great  excitement ;  she  heard 
his  breath  escaping  in  quick  deep  gasps,  and  saw 
the  passionate  ardour  which  burned  in  his  eyes  ; 
and  she  gave  way,  yielding  her  will  to  his  stronger 
will,  reluctantly,  but  with  a  growing  sense  of  the 
futility  of  striving  against  him  any  longer.  He 
silenced  her  protests  with  kisses,  holding  her 
head  against  his  shoulder  and  keeping  his  lips 
on  hers. 


The  Stronger  Influence  XXI 

FOR  a  time  Hallam  kept  the  social  world  at 
arm's  length,  and  continued  to  monopolize 
his  wife,  and  to  persuade  himself  that  she  needed 
nothing  beyond  his  love  to  make  life  perfect  for 
her,  as  it  was  for  him. 

But  Esme's  more  active  temperament  was  not 
satisfied  with  the  exclusion  of  every  outside 
influence ;  and  she  chafed  frequently  at  the 
monotony  of  her  life,  its  gradually  narrowing 
limits.  Hallam  was  a  bookworm :  he  spent 
much  of  his  time  in  reading.  When  he  was 
among  his  books  she  longed  to  go  out  and  amuse 
herself  in  the  ordinary  way  as  she  had  done 
before  her  marriage  ;  but  if  she  went  without 
consulting  him  he  worried  at  her  absence  ;  when 
she  mentioned  that  she  was  going  he  always 
laid  aside  his  reading  and  accompanied  her. 
There  were  times  when  this  amused  her  ;  there 
were  other  times  when  she  felt  merely  exasperated. 

It  became  very  clear  to  her  that  she  would  be 
obliged  to  make  some  stand  or  she  would  cease 
to  have  any  life  of  her  own  at  all.  She  decided 

189 


190  The  Stronger  Influence 

to  take  up  tennis  again  ;  and  joined  the  public 
courts  on  the  advice  of  a  woman  with  whom  she 
was  becoming  intimately  friendly,  and  who, 
despite  Hallam's  lack  of  response,  continued  to 
call  and  to  bring  her  husband  with  her  on  occasions. 

The  Garfields  considered  Hallam  eccentric,  and 
pitied  his  wife.  Sophy  Garfield  held  out  the 
hand  of  friendship,  and  Esme  grasped  it  readily, 
and  found  in  her  a  useful  and  agreeable  acquaint- 
ance. When  Mrs.  Garfield  proposed  that  she 
should  join  the  tennis  club,  Esme  caught  at  the 
suggestion  eagerly.  She  did  not  consult  Hallam  : 
she  paid  her  subscription  fee  and  told  him  later 
what  she  had  done.  Although  he  did  not  receive 
the  information  graciously  he  raised  no  objection. 
It  was  the  least  unpleasant  diversion  she  had 
sought  to  impose  so  far.  He  joined  the  club 
also  with  a  view  to  accompanying  her  some- 
times. But  he  did  not  attend  often  ;  and  after 
a  while  he  gave  up  going  and  allowed  her  to 
develop  some  slight  independence  of  him.  She 
made  friends  easily  ;  he  neither  made  nor  desired 
friends.  In  this  respect  they  differed  materially. 
She  wished  that  he  would  become  more  sociable. 
He  talked  well  when  he  chose  :  it  would  have 
afforded  her  immense  pleasure  to  see  him  in  the 
company  of  other  men  more  often. 

But  he  kept  to  his  home  and  his  long  tramps 
with  her.  He  bought  her  a  horse  and  taught  her 


The  Stronger  Influence  191 

to  ride.  He  was  a  keen  horseman  ;  and  when 
she  was  sufficiently  at  home  in  the  saddle  they 
spent  long  days  together,  riding,  in  pursuit  of 
a  pleasure  that  never  palled  on  either  :  the  dis- 
covery of  fresh  and  beautiful  scenery.  In  their 
love  of  nature  they  were  entirely  in  accord. 

'  I  wish,"  Hallam  said  once,  when  they  sat 
together  on  a  lonely  stretch  of  beach,  with  their 
horses  knee-haltered  and  straying  among  the 
coarse  grass  higher  up,  "  that  I  had  taken  you 
away  into  the  wild  somewhere — Central  Africa 
— anywhere  where  white  faces  are  rare,  instead 
of  making  a  home  in  the  centre  of  civilization. 
These  lonely  places  grip  me.  I  like  to  feel  you 
beside  me  and  know  that  the  rest  of  the  world 
is  far  off,  too  remote  to  trouble  us.  Would  you 
be  happy  in  the  wilds  with  me  ?  " 

"  I  suppose  I  should  be  happy  with  you  any- 
where," she  answered,  and  touched  his  hand 
caressingly  as  it  lay  on  the  sand  close  to  hers. 
'  But  I  am  not  hungering  for  loneliness,  Paul. 
My  instincts  are  civilized.  I'm  nervous  in  lonely 
places." 

"  With  me  ?  "  he  asked. 

She  met  his  eyes  and  smiled  faintly. 

"  Even  with  you  I  think  I  might  feel  fear  at 
times  in  such  solitude  as  you  describe.  I  remem- 
ber how  terrified  I  was  at  the  Zuurberg  that  day, 
down  the  kloof,  when  you  crashed  through  the 


192  'The  Stronger  Influence 

bushes.  I  thought  of  tigers — oh  !  of  all  sorts 
of  horrors.  I  wasn't  shaped  on  heroic  lines, 
man  o'  mine.  Leave  me  to  the  life  of  the  city, 
with  its  comfortable  laws  and  protections,  its  nice, 
safe  orderliness,  and  the  sense  of  security  one 
gets  in  the  midst  of  life.  What  can  the  solitudes 
offer  more  than  we  already  have  ?  " 

'  The  difference  between  us  is  that  you  like 
crowds  and  I  don't,"  he  answered.  "  Sometimes 
I  feel  that  the  crowd  will  get  between  us." 

"  Paul !  "  she  remonstrated. 

She  observed  him  closely  as  he  leaned  on  his 
elbow  beside  her,  playing  idly  with  the  sand, 
making  patterns  on  it  and  effacing  these  again 
with  his  hand.  He  turned  his  face  towards  hers, 
and  his  restless  hands  became  still.  His  keen 
eyes  searched  her  face. 

'  That  strikes  you  as  exaggerated,"  he  said ; 
"  but  it's  not  so.  I've  watched  you,  and  I  see 
it  coming.  You  have  quite  a  number  of  friends 
who  are  not  my  friends " 

"  They  would  be  your  friends  if  you  would  let 
them,"  she  interposed. 

'  Yes ;  I  know  it's  my  fault ;  but  there  it 
is.  You  want  friends.  That's  perfectly  natural. 
You  ought  to  have  them.  You  want  amuse- 
ment. I  hoped  you  wouldn't  need  any  of  these 
things,  that  you'd  be  satisfied,  as  I  am,  just  to 
be  together.  That  was  expecting  too  much " 


'The  Stronger  Influence  193 

"  Oh  !  my  dear,"  she  said  quickly,  with  a  note 
of  pain  in  her  tones.  "  I  don't  love  you  less 
because  I  love  my  kind  ;  I  love  you  better  in 
relation  to  these  others.  Paul,  why  do  you  say 
these  things  ?  They  hurt." 

"  It  wasn't  my  intention  to  hurt  you,"  he  said. 
"  I  was  merely  trying  to  get  the  thing  square 
in  my  mind.  I've  got  to  get  used  to  these  things, 
you  see.  I've  been  selfish.  When  a  man  loves 
as  I  do,  he  is  inclined  to  grow  selfish  and  exact- 
ing. Well,  I've  got  to  make  a  fight  against 
that.  I  don't  like  the  idea  of  sharing  you  with 
the  world  at  large  ;  but  I  am  forced  to  consider 
that  as  a  necessary  part  of  our  compact." 

"  Compact !  "  she  echoed  in  a  puzzled  voice. 

"  We  compacted  to  love  one  another,"  he 
answered  quietly.  '  Love  stands  for  sacrifice. 
If  we  cannot  give  way  in  little  things,  the  big 
things  become  more  difficult  to  relinquish.  Your 
brother-in-law  made  one  observation  that  was 
profoundly  true,  though  he  did  not  phrase  it 
happily  :  love  and  prayer  are  synonymous  terms. 
My  love  for  you  is  as  a  prayer  in  my  heart.  I 
do  not  wish  to  lower  it  to  a  mere  selfish  human 
passion." 

"Oh,  Paul!"  she  said.  And  suddenly  she 
dropped  her  face  to  his  hand  and  her  lips  caressed 
it  where  it  lay  open,  palm  upward,  on  the  sand. 

His  talk  of  sacrifice  made  her  desire  to  give  up 

13 


194  ^he  Stronger  Influence 

things  also,  to  give  up  her  will  to  him  ;  but  the 
persuasion  that  it  was  good  for  him  to  throw  off 
his  absorption,  to  adapt  his  life  to  the  common 
rule  and  live  more  like  other  men,  held  her  mute. 
She  would  accept  his  sacrifices,  all  that  he  offered, 
and  would  prove  to  him  in  numberless  tender  ways 
how  great  was  her  appreciation  of  the  unselfish 
love  he  gave  her  ;  how  intense  was  her  pride  in 
it.  She  had  never  loved  him  so  much  as  in  that 
moment  when  he  gave  her  an  insight  into  what 
his  conception  of  love  was.  He  so  seldom  spoke 
on  the  subject,  and  never  before  had  spoken 
without  reserve ;  it  seemed  to  her  that  his  talk 
that  day  threw  a  bright  ray  of  light  upon  his 
feelings,  and  revealed  to  her  very  clearly  the 
beauty  of  his  ideal  of  love,  hitherto  so  jealously 
locked  in  his  inmost  thoughts. 

A  feeling  of  happiness  that  was  as  a  song  of 
gratitude  warmed  her  heart.  She  pillowed  her 
face  on  his  hand  and  lay  still  on  the  burning 
sand  beside  him,  undisturbed  by  the  hot  sun 
which  beat  upon  her  body,  upon  her  face  ;  loving 
its  warmth  which  was  as  the  warmth  in  her  heart, 
a  flame  that  glowed  and  burned  and  did  not 
consume. 

Hallam  rolled  over  on  his  elbow  and  lay  watch- 
ing her  in  contemplative  silence  for  a  space. 
The  feel  of  her  cheek  against  his  hand  pleased 
him.  Her  face  was  flushed  and  happy,  and  the 


The  Stronger  Influence  195 

look  in  the  soft  eyes  when  they  met  his  moved 
him  to  lean  over  her  and  kiss  their  long  lashes. 
Laughing,  she  opened  them  wide  and  looked  up 
at  him. 

"  Paul,  heart  of  my  heart !  "  she  cried.  "  How 
you  make  me  love  you  ' 

'  Yes  !  "  he  said,  and  kissed  her  again.  "  I 
wonder  whose  love  is  the  stronger — yours  or 
mine  ?  " 

'  We  cannot  prove  that,"  she  said. 

'  Time  may,"  he  replied.  '  The  strength  of 
love  is  tested  by  its  endurance.  A  great  love 
endures  through  everything  for  all  time." 

"  A  great  love  !  "  she  repeated,  and  brushed 
his  hand  caressingly  with  her  cheek.  "  I  never 
knew,  until  you  taught  me,  how  great  love  was," 


The  Stronger  Influence  XXII 

MARRIAGE,  like  every  other  relationship  in 
life,  becomes  with  time  a  matter  of  usage. 
One  by  one  the  demands  which  the  ardour  of 
passion  exacts  relax  imperceptibly,  and  love  finds 
its  level  on  a  practical  basis  of  mutual  interests 
in  the  common  daily  round. 

Hallam's  marriage  was  a  reversal  of  the  usual 
order,  in  which  generally  it  falls  to  the  woman 
to  adapt  herself  more  or  less  to  the  altered  con- 
ditions. In  their  case  the  change  affected  him 
more  materially  than  it  affected  Esme  :  his  life 
had  become,  as  it  were,  uprooted,  and  the  roots 
did  not  strike  freely  in  new  soil.  The  change 
was  not  agreeable  to  him  ;  but  his  love  for  his 
wife  was  of  a  quality  which  helped  him  to  endure 
with  a  certain  dogged  patience  many  things  that 
formerly  he  would  not  have  entertained  for  a 
moment.  He  suppressed  his  own  inclinations  : 
to  a  large  extent  he  suppressed  his  feelings : 
mentally  his  life  with  her  was  a  series  of  small 
deceptions,  of  pretences  practised  deliberately 
for  the  purpose  of  misleading  her.  He  feared  to 

196 


The  Stronger  Influence  197 

disappoint  her.  His  mind  became  a  storehouse 
of  reserved  thoughts  and  inhibitions  upon  which 
he  turned  the  key,  locking  its  surprises  against 
her. 

In  certain  respects,  though  she  was  unaware 
of  this,  he  was  a  stranger  to  her  :  one  side  of  his 
nature  remained  hidden  from  her,  the  weaker  side, 
which  most  urgently  needed  her  loving  sympathy, 
and  which  shrank  from  exposure  and  misunder- 
standing with  a  sensitiveness  of  which  he  was 
conscious  and  secretly  ashamed.  He  was  not 
the  type  of  man  to  make  an  appeal  even  to  the 
woman  he  loved.  He  gave  more  than  he  exacted. 
He  gave  more  than  she  realized  in  her  ignorance 
of  the  sacrifices  he  made  in  his  attempts  to  bridge 
the  abyssmal  gap  in  temperaments.  For  her 
sake  he  endured  many  things  which  were  to 
him  boring  and  annoying  in  the  extreme.  He 
made  stupendous  efforts  to  subdue  his  prejudices 
and  adjust  his  life  to  meet  the  new  demands. 
But  the  nature  of  the  man  remained  unchanged 
and  suffered  as  a  result  of  the  artificial  conditions 
of  his  self-imposed  obligations. 

Three  brief  years  of  married  happiness  passed  ; 
and  then  Hallam  began  at  first  moderately  ^  and 
always  secretly  to  drink  again. 

For  a  time  Esme  was  unaware  of  this  relapse 
on  his  part  ;  for  a  further  period  she  suspected 
it  but  could  not  be  sure.  Then  the  old  symptoms 


198  The  Stronger  Influence 

reappeared  with  terrible  convincingness  :  she  saw 
his  hands  grow  shaky,  his  whole  appearance 
degenerate,  till  he  looked  as  she  had  seen  him 
first  on  the  stoep  of  the  hotel  at  the  Zuurberg, 
older,  ill,  nervous  and  morose,  with  a  disregard 
for  public  opinion  and  a  growing  indifference  as 
to  whether  she  knew  or  not. 

Esme's  eyes  opened  to  the  condition  of  things 
after  a  short  visit  paid  to  her  sister,  which  Hallam 
readily  agreed  to  her  accepting  but  refused  to 
accept  for  himself.  He  had  no  wish  to  see  his 
wife's  relations ;  he  preferred  to  remain  at 
home. 

She  parted  from  him  reluctantly.  A  feeling  of 
anxiety  gripped  her  at  the  thought  of  leaving  him 
alone.  It  was  their  first  separation  since  their 
marriage.  But  she  wanted  to  see  her  sister 
again.  Rose's  letter  was  reproachful ;  it  con- 
veyed the  suggestion  that  the  writer  was  hurt 
by  her  neglect.  The  neglect  on  Esme's  side  was 
not  wilful :  she  had  wished  to  have  her  sister 
to  stay  with  her  ;  but  Hallam  had  always  seemed 
so  disinclined  to  entertain  any  member  of  her 
family  that  she  had  been  obliged  to  give  up  the 
idea.  But  when  Rose's  letter  came  urging  her 
to  take  a  trip  round  to  the  Bay,  she  decided  that 
she  ought  to  go,  unless  she  wished  for  a  complete 
estrangement  between  them.  Hallam  was  quite 
agreeable.  He  booked  her  a  passage  and  saw  her 


Stronger  Influence  199 


off  by  the  boat  ;  but  at  the  last  moment  he  showed 
a  strong  disinclination  to  part  from  her,  and 
almost  persuaded  her  to  give  up  the  idea  and 
return  with  him. 

"  It's  too  absurd/'  she  said  :  "  we  are  like  a 
pair  of  children.  Why  don't  you  come  with 
me?" 

"  No,"  he  said.  "  I'll  wait  at  home  for  you. 
Don't  stay  longer  than  you  need." 

She  watched  him  descend  to  the  quay,  and, 
leaning  on  the  rail,  looking  down  at  him,  the 
first  intimation  that  things  were  not  quite  as 
they  should  be  dawned  on  her,  and  filled  her  with 
a  sense  of  uneasiness  which  grew  with  every  hour 
of  her  separation  from  him. 

In  the  end  she  curtailed  her  visit  and  returned 
unexpectedly  by  train. 

She  had  sent  a  telegram  informing  Hallam 
when  to  expect  her  ;  and  she  found  him  on  the 
platform  waiting  for  her,  and  was  struck  imme- 
diately by  the  change  in  him.  Her  heart  sank 
within  her,  but  she  forced  a  smile  to  her  lips  and 
accompanied  him  out  of  the  station  and  got  into 
the  waiting  taxi.  He  opened  the  door  for  her, 
fumbling  with  the  catch  with  unsteady  fingers, 
and  got  in  after  her  and  sat  down  heavily. 

"  It  didn't  take  you  long  to  discover  that 
home's  the  best  place,"  he  remarked,  with  a 
sideways  furtive  look  at  her.  "  How  did  you 


2OO  The  Stronger  Influence 

find  them  all  ?  Jim  still  grousing,  I  suppose  ? 
And  the  small  boy  a  perennial  note  of  interro- 
gation ?  " 

"  Everything  was  much  the  same,"  she  answered 
in  a  dispirited  voice.  '  They  were  all  a  little 
older  in  appearance,  and  the  children  have  grown 
tremendously.  I  wish  you  had  been  with  me. 
Rose  was  hurt,  I  think,  because  you  did  not  go." 

"  Oh,  really  !  I  should  have  thought  she  would 
have  felt  relieved." 

"  Why  ?  " 

He  disregarded  the  question.  Abruptly  he 
put  out  an  unsteady  hand  and  laid  it  upon  hers. 

"  Tired  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  A  little."  She  twisted  her  hand  round  in  her 
lap  and  her  fingers  closed  upon  his.  '  What 
have  you  been  doing  during  my  absence  ?  " 

"  Mainly  missing  you,"  he  answered.  "  A 
reversion  to  one's  bachelor  days  is  a  dull  sort 
of  holiday." 

"  I  know.  But  what  was  I  to  do  ?  I  don't 
want  to  lose  touch  altogether  with  my  ain  folk." 

"  I  have  no  folk,"  he  said,  "  so  I  can't  under- 
stand these  family  ties.  I  think  them  a  bore. 
But  if  you  had  a  good  time  that's  the  chief  thing. 
You've  a  lot  of  friends  at  the  Bay,  and  you  find 
pleasure  in  them.  My  friends  are  silent  com- 
panions and  are  better  suited  to  my  taste.  How 
did  your  people  think  you  were  looking  ?  None 


The  Stronger  Influence  201 

the  worse  for  being  tied  to  this  dull  person,  I 
hope  ?  " 

She  laughed  and  squeezed  his  hand. 
'  They  were  impressed  with  my  staid  appear- 
ance, and  the  fact  that  I  am  putting  on  weight," 
she  said.     "  I  didn't  realize  it  myself  until  Jim 
told  me  I  was  getting  fat." 

'  That  is  a  Jim-like  touch,"  he  returned,  and 
glanced  at  her  cursorily.  "  The  grossness  is  not 
apparent  to  me.  Did  you  meet  Sinclair  during 
your  stay  ?  " 

"Yes,"  she  said,  and  looked  surprised  that  he 
should  ask  the  question.  That  he  had  once  been 
jealous  of  Sinclair  was  unknown  to  her. 

"  And  does  he  still  wear  the  willow  for  your 
sake  ?  " 

"  He  isn't  married,"  she  answered.  "  But  I 
don't  think  that  has  anything  to  do  with  me." 

She  regretted  that  he  had  opened  this  subject. 
The  memory  of  Sinclair  was  a  distress  to  her. 
The  change  in  him  had  struck  her  more  forcibly 
than  the  change  in  any  member  of  her  own  family. 
The  difference  in  him  was  not  due  alone  to  the 
passing  years.  He  was  altered  in  manner  as 
much  as  in  appearance ;  all  the  boyish  gaiety 
had  departed :  he  was  older,  more  thoughtful  ; 
the  irresponsible  gladness  of  youth,  formerly  so 
noticeable  a  characteristic  of  his,  was  missing. 
She  could  have  wept  at  the  change  in  him.  He 


2O2  The  Stronger  Influence 

was  still  her  devoted  slave.  During  her  visit  he 
had  haunted  her  sister's  house.  He  had  claimed 
the  privilege  of  friendship  and  put  himself  at 
her  disposal.  He  was  always  at  hand  when  she 
needed  him.  And  never  once  by  word  or  gesture 
had  he  attempted  to  overstep  the  boundary  of 
friendship.  She  felt  grateful  to  him  for  his  con- 
sistent and  considerate  kindness.  She  did  not 
want  to  discuss  him,  even  with  Paul. 

Hallam  did  not  pursue  the  subject.  He  fell 
into  silence  and  left  her  to  do  the  talking.  During 
the  remainder  of  the  drive  she  chatted  fragment- 
ally  and  brightly  of  her  doings  while  she  had 
been  away.  Principally  she  talked  about  the 
children.  The  sight  of  John  and  Mary,  the 
sound  of  their  gay  young  voices,  their  insistent 
claim  upon  the  general  attention,  had  brought 
home  to  her  the  absence  of  the  one  great  interest 
in  her  own  home.  She  wanted  children  intensely  ; 
and  it  did  not  seem  that  her  desire  would  ever 
be  satisfied.  A  child  would  have  completed  her 
married  happiness. 

Something  of  what  was  in  her  thoughts  she 
managed  to  convey  to  Hallam  when  they  reached 
the  house  and  entered  together,  her  arm  within 
his.  Alone  in  the  drawing-room,  when  he  held 
her  in  his  embrace  and  kissed  the  bright  upturned 
face,  she  slipped  her  hands  behind  his  neck  and 
looked  back  at  him  with  tender  loving  eyes. 


The  Stronger  Influence  203 

"  Paul,"  she  whispered,  "  I  wish  we  had  a 
child  of  our  very  own — -a  wee  scrap  of  soft  pink 
flesh,  with  tiny  clinging  hands.  My  dear,  my 
dearest,  I  do  so  want  a  child  !  " 

He  gazed  down  at  her,  troubled  and  immeasur- 
ably surprised,  and  gently  kissed  the  tremulous 
lips.  He  had  never  given  any  thought  to  the 
matter  until  now,  when  he  realized  the  aching 
mother-hunger  expressed  in  her  desire  :  she  had 
concealed  it  so  successfully  hitherto.  He  did 
not  himself  wish  for  children  ;  the  thought  of 
them  even  was  an  embarrassment.  With  clumsy 
tenderness  he  stroked  her  hair. 

"  It  seems  as  though  it  is  not  to  be/'  he  said. 
'  I  didn't  know  you  cared  so  much,  sweetheart." 

"  Don't  you  care  ?  "  she  asked. 

"  I  !  "  He  seemed  surprised.  "  I've  got  you," 
he  said,  and  drew  her  close  in  his  embrace. 


The  Stronger  Influence  XX1I1 

THE  first  real  sorrow  inEsme'slife  came  to  her 
with  the  realization  of  the  fact  that  her  in- 
fluence with  her  husband  no  longer  sufficed  to  keep 
him  steady.  Gradually,  so  gradually  that  she  did 
not  suspect  it  until  the  thing  was  plainly  manifest, 
he  fell  back  upon  his  former  habit  of  intemper- 
ance and  became  once  more  the  drunkard  whom 
she  had  first  met  at  the  Zuurberg,  and  pitied 
and  despised  for  the  weakness  of  his  character. 

Hallam  did  not  give  in  to  his  vice  without  a 
struggle  ;  but  with  each  lapse  his  will  weakened, 
till  eventually  he  ceased  to  fight  his  enemy,  ceased 
even  to  consider  the  pain  which  he  was  aware  he 
caused  his  wife. 

Esme's  grief  was  deep,  and  the  humiliation  of 
realizing  that  the  thing  was  becoming  publicly 
known  added  to  her  distress.  Reluctantly  she 
withdrew  from  social  intercourse  and  devoted 
her  time  entirely  to  him,  trusting  that  the  power 
of  love  would  yet  prove  the  stronger  influence. 
Her  love  for  him  strengthened  with  her  recogni- 
tion of  his  need  of  her :  he  was  her  child,  weak 

204 


The  Stronger  Influence  205 

and  foolish  and  dependent, — her  man  and  her  child, 
whom  she  had  to  protect  from  himself. 

Matters  grew  worse.  An  inkling  of  the  trouble 
reached  Rose  through  an  acquaintance  of  her 
husband  who  had  been  in  Cape  Town  and  had 
heard  rumours  of  the  state  of  affairs.  Rose's 
first  impulse  was  to  write  to  her  sister  and  ask 
for  information  direct ;  but  on  reflection  she 
decided  against  this  course.  There  flashed  into 
her  mind,  as  once  before  at  the  time  of  Esme's 
marriage  the  same  memory  had  disturbed  her 
peace,  the  picture  of  George  Sinclair's  face  when 
he  heard  of  Esme's  engagement  and  the  recollec- 
tion of  his  incomprehensible  agitation.  Was  it 
possible  that  he  had  known  ? 

She  determined  to  ask  him ;  and  on  the  first 
opportunity  did  so,  observing  him  attentively 
while  she  put  a  direct  question  to  him.  The 
quick  distress  and  the  absence  of  surprise  in  his 
look  confirmed  her  suspicion.  He  had  been 
aware  of  this  thing  all  along. 

"  You  knew  !  "  she  said  resentfully.  "  Why 
didn't  you  tell  me  ?  ' 

"  Good  lord !  "  he  exclaimed  almost  passion- 
ately. "  It  wasn't  for  me  to  say  anything.  She 
knew  what  she  was  taking  on.  It  wouldn't  have 
made  a  fraction  of  difference  if  you  had  done 
everything  in  your  power  to  dissuade  her.  She 
went  into  it  with  her  eyes  open." 


206  The  Stronger  Influence 

"  You  mean  that  she  realized  she  was  marrying 
a  drunkard  ?  ' 

"  Of  course  she  realized  it.  I  suppose  she 
believed  she  could  reclaim  him.  For  a  time 
no  doubt  she  did.  Mrs.  Bainbridge,  I  could  cheer- 
fully kill  him,  if  that  would  help  matters." 

"  It  wouldn't,"  Rose  answered  practically. 
"Don't  talk  like  a  fool,  George." 

"  I  love  her,"  he  said  simply,  the  tears  welling 
in  his  eyes.  "  I  hate  to  think  of  her  life  with 
him.  It  cuts  me." 

"  Dear  old  boy,"  she  said,  with  greater  gentle- 
ness of  manner  than  she  often  displayed,  "  I 
know.  I  wish  from  my  soul  that  she  had  married 
you.  I  always  mistrusted  Paul.  But  she  was 
fascinated  with  him  ;  there  was  no  one  else  in  the 
picture  for  her.  He  may  break  her  heart  and  spoil 
her  life,  but  she'll  go  on  loving  him.  You  could 
see  for  yourself  when  she  was  round  here ;  she  was 
restless  without  him  and  wanting  to  go  home." 

"That's  not  surprising  in  the  circumstances," 
he  returned  with  bitterness.  "  I  don't  suppose 
that  she  trusts  him  out  of  her  sight  for  long." 

"  That  wasn't  it,"  Rose  said  quietly  ;  and  added 
after  a  brief  pause  :  "  She  just  wanted  him." 

It  was  better,  she  decided,  that  he  should  face 
matters  and  give  over  cherishing  a  hopeless  attach- 
ment. She  liked  George  Sinclair  sufficiently  to 
wish  to  see  him  happily  married  and  settled  down. 


'The  Stronger  Influence  207 

He  was  a  man  who  would  make  an  admirable 
husband. 

But  Sinclair  showed  no  inclination  towards 
marriage.  He  had  met  the  girl  he  wanted,  and 
lost  her  ;  no  other  girl  could  blot  out  the  memory 
of  his  first  real  love,  nor  take  her  place  in  his 
heart.  It  had  been  a  big  blow  when  she  married ; 
and  the  bitterness  of  his  disappointment  increased 
enormously  with  the  knowledge  of  the  disaster 
which  threatened  her  happiness.  In  a  measure  he 
had  expected  it ;  it  did  not  come  as  a  surprise,  only 
as  an  ugly  confirmation  of  his  fears.  He  believed 
that  he  could  have  borne  his  own  disappointment 
philosophically  had  life  gone  well  for  her  :  but  the 
conviction  that  she  had  made  a  mistake  held  with 
him  and  inflamed  his  resentment  against  Hallam. 

"  Well,  there's  one  thing,"  he  said,  as  he  got 
up  from  his  seat  and  confronted  Rose  with  grim 
set  face,  "if  he  goes  on  at  the  rate  he  did  when 
he  was  at  the  Zuurberg  she  will  be  a  widow  before 
many  years.  A  man  can't  fool  with  his  constitu- 
tion like  that — not  in  this  country  anyhow." 

"  Don't  count  on  that,  George,"  she  advised. 
"  It's  a  slow  poison." 

He  laughed  shortly. 

"I've  a  feeling  that  my  turn  will  come,"  he 
said,  and  turned  about  abruptly  and  left  the  room, 
left  the  house,  with  a  sore  heart,  and  his  sense 
of  exasperation  deepening  as  he  thought  of  the 


zo8  The  Stronger  Influence 

girl  he  loved  tied  to  a  drunkard  who  was  not 
man  enough  to  conquer  his  particular  vice. 

And  the  girl  he  pitied  was  blaming  herself  for 
not  having  gone  with  her  man  into  the  wilds,  for 
not  having  allowed  him  to  follow  the  life  he  pre- 
ferred, hunting  and  exploring  along  the  unbeaten 
track.  Had  life  offered  him  a  sufficient  interest 
this  relapse  might  have  been  averted.  She  had 
relied  overmuch  on  the  strength  of  character  which 
she  believed  was  his :  she  had  overestimated 
his  strength,  had  left  him  to  fight  his  battle 
unaided.  He  had  wearied  of  the  struggle  and 
given  in.  From  the  point  where  he  wearied  she 
took  it  up,  took  it  up  with  a  tireless  determin- 
ation to  win,  that  armed  itself  against  all  disap- 
pointments and  rebuffs ;  and  the  rebuffs  were 
many.  Hallam  resented  her  attempts  at  coercion. 

Oddly,  he  did  not  mind  her  knowing  of  his 
weakness,  but  he  objected  when  she  allowed 
her  knowledge  to  become  obvious.  He  felt  that 
she  ought  to  have  ignored  this  thing ;  to  embar- 
rass him  by  thrusting  it  under  his  notice  was 
tactless  and  annoying. 

He  shut  himself  away  from  her  more  than 
formerly,  and  sat  up  late  into  the  night  reading 
in  his  study.  Occasionally  he  fell  asleep  in  his 
chair  and  remained  there  until  the  morning,  to 
wake  cramped  and  unrefreshed  and  creep  up- 
stairs in  the  dawn. 


The  Stronger  Influence  XXIV 

THESE  late  hours,  and  the  fact  that  he 
had  taken  to  sleeping  in  the  dressing-room 
from  a  desire  not  to  disturb  her,  excited  Esme's 
worst  apprehensions.  She  fell  into  the  habit 
of  lying  awake  and  listening  for  him  :  she  could 
not  rest  while  she  knew  that  he  was  downstairs. 
The  old  sickening  sensation  of  terror,  which  had 
seized  her  at  the  Zuurberg  when  she  listened  to 
him  stumbling  along  the  stoep  on  his  way  to 
his  room,  gripped  her  anew  each  time  that  she 
heard  him  mount  the  stairs  and  go  unsteadily 
to  the  dressing-room  in  his  stockinged  feet. 

The  horror  of  it  was  as  a  nightmare  which  tor- 
mented her  unceasingly.  She  was  afraid  of  him 
when  he  had  been  drinking  heavily ;  not  afraid 
that  he  would  do  her  any  physical  injury ;  but 
the  look  in  his  eyes  terrified  her ;  it  seemed  to 
alter  him,  to  make  him  a  stranger  almost.  There 
were  times  when  he  passed  her  on  the  stairs  or 
landing  with  wide-opened  eyes  which  appeared  not 
to  notice  her  presence :  the  sight  of  him  thus  made 
her  knees  shake  under  her  and  blanched  her  face. 

209  14 


2io  Ike  Stronger  Influence 

It  was  like  meeting  a  sleep-walker,  only  more 
horrible. 

She  went  to  him  one  night  in  his  study  and 
kneeled  on  the  carpet  beside  him  and  pleaded 
with  him. 

"  Paul,"  she  said,  and  lifted  sweet,  distressed 
eyes  to  his,  with  no  reproach  in  their  look,  only 
a  great  sadness.  "  Aren't  you  neglecting  me  a 
little  ?  Why  do  you  shut  yourself  away  every 
night?  I'm  lonely  all  by  myself." 

"  I  thought  you  were  in  bed,"  he  said,  and 
moved  restlessly  and  avoided  her  gaze.  '  You 
usually  go  to  bed  at  ten  o'clock." 

"  Not  lately,"  she  answered.  "I  sit  up  and 
wait  for  you.  I  think  to  myself,  he  may  need  me. 
I  am  always  hoping  against  hope.  My  dear, 
why  do  you  shut  yourself  away  from  me  ? 
It's  unkind.  Paul,  don't  you  love  me  any 
longer  ?  ' 

He  brought  his  eyes  back  to  her  face,  and 
looked  at  her  long  and  earnestly.  Then  he  put 
his  hands  on  her  shoulders  and  held  her  a  little 
way  off,  still  scrutinizing  her  attentively. 

"  Do  you  think  it  necessary  to  ask  that  ?  ' 
he  said. 

"  Yes,"  she  answered  almost  passionately.  She 
put  her  hands  over  his  and  clung  to  him  desper- 
ately, exerting  all  her  control  to  keep  back  the 
rising  tears.  "  Once  our  love  sufficed,  dearest 


The  Stronger  Influence  211 

heart ;  you  wanted  only  to  be  with  me  ;  and 
now " 

"  Aren't  you  being  a  little  foolish  ?  "  he  asked. 
"  People  who  live  together  develop  a  sort  of  in- 
dependence of  each  other  after  a  while.  Because 
I  hke  to  be  quiet  for  an  hour  or  two  during  the 
evening,  need  that  be  construed  into  a  sign  of 
indifference  ?  ' 

"No,"  she  said;  "not  that  in  itself.  But 
my  love  is  not  strong  enough  any  longer  to  hold 
you.  You've  slipped  back  into  the  old  ways, 
dear.  It's  breaking  my  heart,  Paul ;  I  can't 
bear  it." 

She  dropped  her  face  on  to  his  knees  and  wept 
bitterly,  with  her  eyes  hidden  in  her  hands.  His 
own  hand,  shaky  and  uncertain,  came  to  rest  on 
her  hair,  stroked  her  hair  gently. 

"  I'm  a  brute,"  he  said,  "  an  inconsiderate 
brute."  He  gathered  her  in  his  arms  and  drew 
her  up  and  held  her,  weeping  still,  upon  his  knee. 
"  Don't  cry.  Tell  me  what  you  want.  I'll  try, 
Esme.  I  didn't  think  it  was  so  bad  as  this.  I'll 
pull  myself  together.  Don't  cry,  sweetheart. 
It  distresses  me  to  see  you  cry.  The  brute  I've 
been  !  " 

He  drew  her  wet  cheek  to  his  and  kissed  her, 
and  she  wound  her  arms  about  his  neck  and 
clung  to  him,  sobbing  softly,  with  her  head 
resting  like  a  tired  child's  on  his  shoulder. 


212  The  Stronger  Influence 

When  the  sounds  of  her  sobs  ceased  he  got  up 
and  left  the  room  with  her  and  went  with  her 
upstairs.  For  that  night  she  had  won  a  victory. 
But  she  did  not  feel  sure  any  longer  that  her 
influence  would  hold.  He  had  made  her  promises 
before  and  broken  them  again.  It  seemed  to 
her  that  his  will  had  weakened  considerably : 
she  no  longer  felt  any  real  confidence  in  him. 

Perhaps  she  allowed  him  to  see  this,  and  so 
lost  much  of  her  hold  on  him.  He  was  conscious 
always  that  she  watched  him ;  and  his  manner 
became  furtive  and  suspicious  as  a  result  of  this 
supervision.  His  moods  of  repentance  did  not 
endure  for  long  ;  but  while  they  lasted  his  hatred 
of  himself  for  the  distress  he  caused  the  wife  whom 
he  still  tenderly  loved  was  genuine  and  deep.  It 
was  as  though  his  life  were  accursed  and  the  curse 
of  his  misfortune  overshadowed  her. 

It  amazed  Hallam  and  disconcerted  him  enor- 
mously when  he  began  to  realize  that  he  had 
lost  his  grip  on  himself.  He  had  imagined  that 
he  had  conquered  his  vice,  that  he  could  keep 
it  under  without  particular  effort.  He  had 
believed  in  himself  with  an  even  greater  confidence 
than  Esm6  had  once  believed  in  him :  he  had 
relied,  with  an  almost  arrogant  faith  in  the  power 
of  the  human  will,  on  his  unaided  effort  to  control 
his  desires.  At  the  time  of  his  marriage  he  had 
felt  quite  sure  of  himself ;  otherwise  he  would 


The  Stronger  Influence  213 

never  have  injured  the  girl  he  loved  by  linking 
her  lot  with  his.  He  felt  as  though  he  had  been 
guilty  of  a  breach  of  faith  with  her ;  and  this 
thought  worried  him  unceasingly,  till  he  drugged 
his  mind  into  temporary  oblivion  and  laid  up 
thereby  further  torment  for  his  sober  hours. 

The  state  of  things  became  unendurable,  and 
finally  worked  to  a  climax. 

A  few  weeks  of  restraint  on  Hallam's  part,  of 
determined  and  difficult  self-discipline,  and  then 
his  devil  got  the  upper  hand  once  more,  and 
his  resolves  faded  into  nothingness  before  the 
craving  which  he  could  no  longer  resist. 

He  fought  the  demon  of  desire  for  a  few  days 
with  a  fierce  despair  in  the  knowledge  that  the 
thing  was  too  strong  for  him.  With  each  battle 
his  strength  weakened.  Realizing  this  he  sought 
diversion,  taking  Esme  out  in  the  evenings  to 
any  entertainment  that  offered.  He  feared  to 
be  alone.  When  he  was  alone  his  craving  for 
drink  was  insistent. 

And  then  one  fateful  night  he  gave  way  to  his 
desire,  deliberately  and  without  further  struggle: 
he  flung  his  scruples  aside  and  relaxed  all  effort, 
as  an  exhausted  swimmer  might  relax  and  give 
up  with  the  shore  and  safety  in  sight. 

He  had  been  with  Esme  to  the  theatre.  The 
performance  had  been  poor,  both  in  regard  to 
acting  and  to  plot :  he  had  felt  extremely  bored. 


214  The  Stronger  Influence 

And  Esme  was  tired,  and  complained  of  headache. 
It  had  been  a  boisterous  day,  with  a  black  south- 
easter raging.  The  wind  gathered  force  towards 
evening  and  blew  to  a  gale,  driving  the  dust 
before  it  in  swirling  clouds  of  sticky  grit.  Small 
stones  rattled  against  the  closed  windows  of  the 
taxi  in  which  they  drove  ;  the  cushions  felt  damp 
and  sticky,  and  the  dust  penetrated  through  the 
cracks. 

"  What  a  night  to  be  abroad  in  !  "  Hallam  said, 
and  observed  his  wife's  pale  face  with  some 
concern.  '  You  ought  not  to  have  come.  It  was 
a  silly  sort  of  show,  and  it's  made  your  head  worse. 
You  should  have  stayed  at  home  and  rested." 

"I'm  all  right,"  she  answered  brightly ;  and 
made  an  effort  to  be  entertaining  during  the  long 
drive  home.  She  did  not  like  him  to  feel  bored 
when  he  took  her  out. 

But  her  head  ached  badly ;  and  she  was  re- 
lieved when  the  taxi  stopped  before  the  house,  and 
Hallam  got  out  and  opened  the  door  for  her  and 
followed  her  into  the  lighted  hall.  It  was  good 
to  get  inside  and  shut  out  the  inclement  night. 
The  rush  of  the  wind  sweeping  round  the  side 
of  the  house  was  terrific.  She  stood  for  a  moment 
at  the  foot  of  the  stairs  and  listened  to  it,  with 
her  temples  throbbing  painfully  and  her  nerves 
jarred  with  the  noise  of  the  warring  elements. 
Hallam  shut  the  front  door  and  bolted  it.  When 


The  Stronger  Influence  215 

he  turned  round  he  saw  her  eyes,  dark-ringed 
in  her  white  face,  looking  at  him  gravely  with 
a  question  in  them. 

"  You  get  off  to  bed,"  he  said.  "  I'll  lock  up 
and  follow  you  in  a  few  minutes.  You  look 
done." 

"  It's  this  stupid  headache,"  she  said  apolo- 
getically. "  Paul,  you  won't  be  late  ?  The  wind 
makes  me  nervous." 

"  Brave  person  !  "  he  returned,  smiling  at  her 
indulgently.  He  removed  the  wrap  from  her 
shoulders  and  threw  it  over  his  arm.  "  I  will  be 
up  before  you  are  asleep." 

He  watched  her  mount  the  stairs.  When  she 
reached  the  landing  she  paused  to  smile  down  at 
him  before  entering  her  room.  He  turned  away 
and  went  into  his  study,  switching  on  the  light 
as  he  entered.  He  became  aware  that  he  was 
still  carrying  his  wife's  wrap,  and  placed  the 
flimsy  thing  over  the  back  of  a  chair,  and  stood 
hesitating,  looking  towards  his  easy  chair,  with 
the  table  beside  it  littered  with  books  and 
the  reading-lamp  in  the  centre.  He  touched  the 
switch  of  the  lamp  and  turned  off  the  brighter 
light  and  remained,  still  in  indecision,  looking 
no  longer  at  the  chair  but  beyond  it  towards  a 
cupboard,  the  key  of  which  he  carried  always 
upon  him.  He  felt  in  his  pocket  for  the  key, 
and  remained  staring  at  it  in  his  hand  and  re- 


216  The  Stronger  Influence 

fleeting  deeply.  His  devil  tempted  him  sorely. 
Against  his  volition  his  gaze  travelled  to  the 
flimsy  thing  of  gauze  and  fur  which  lay  as  a 
mute  reminder  of  his  wife  where  he  had  dropped 
it  on  entering,  and  in  imagination  he  heard  again 
the  plaintive  note  of  her  question :  "  Paul,  you 
won't  be  late  ?  "  as  she  had  turned  and  looked 
back  at  him  from  the  stairs.  He  had  promised 
to  follow  her  shortly. 

Frowning,  he  turned  the  key  in  his  hand.  For  a 
while  he  remained  still  irresolute  while  his  will 
slowly  weakened  and  his  craving  increased ; 
then  with  an  abrupt  movement  he  advanced 
swiftly  and,  stooping,  inserted  the  key  in  the 
cupboard  door. 


The  Stronger  Influence  XXV 

MIDNIGHT  struck  and  still  the  wind  raged 
without,  while  inside  the  house  complete 
silence  reigned.  One  o'clock  struck.  The  gale 
was  at  its  height ;  the  noise  of  the  wind  was 
terrific :  it  swept  past  the  lighted  window  of 
Hallam's  study  and  shook  the  glass  as  though 
something  alive  were  out  in  the  storm  and  seeking 
refuge  from  the  fury  of  the  wind.  But  the  occu- 
pant of  the  room  neither  stirred  nor  looked  round  : 
he  sat  with  a  book  open  on  the  table  before  him, 
and  a  glass  at  his  elbow  towards  which  his  shaking 
hand  reached  forth  at  regular  and  frequent  intervals. 
He  had  forgotten  his  promise  to  his  wife,  had  for- 
gotten the  hour ;  he  sat  hi  a  semi-stupor,  and  took 
no  heed  of  time  or  place.  Whether  he  read,  and,  if 
he  did  read,  whether  his  drugged  brain  took  hold 
of  the  sense  of  the  printed  matter  on  which  his  eyes 
rested,  was  uncertain ;  but  every  now  and  again 
he  turned  a  page  of  the  book  without  raising  his 
glance  even  when  his  hand  reached  out  for  the 
glass  from  which  he  drank  :  he  only  looked  up  to 
refill  the  glass  from  a  decanter  on  the  table. 

217 


218  'The  Stronger  Influence 

The  minutes  ticked  on  relentlessly,  and  the 
clock  on  the  mantel-piece  chimed  the  half-hour 
after  one.  A  light  footfall  descending  the  stairs, 
so  light  that  it  could  not  be  heard  above  the 
noise  of  the  wind,  did  not  disturb  the  reader  ; 
nor  did  he  appear  to  see  when  the  door  of  the 
room  was  pushed  wider  and  Esme  with  a  dressing- 
gown  worn  over  her  nightdress  and  her  hair  in  a 
heavy  plait  over  her  shoulder,  stood  framed  in 
the  doorway,  a  shrinking  slender  figure,  looking 
towards  him  with  wide,  anguished  eyes.  She 
advanced  swiftly  and  stood  beside  him  and  rested 
a  hand  on  his  shoulder. 

"  Paul !  "  she  said. 

He  looked  up  at  her  slowly,  stupidly,  his  dull  eyes 
scrutinizing  her,  a  frown  contracting  his  brows :  then 
his  gaze  travelled  to  the  hand  on  his  shoulder  and 
stayed  there.  He  moved  his  shoulder  impatiently. 

'  What's  the  matter  ?  "  he  said  in  thickened 
tones.  "  I  thought  you  were  asleep." 

'  You  promised  that  you  would  not  be  long," 
she  said.  "  I  waited  for  you.  Come  to  bed, 
Paul ;  it's  late." 

"I  shan't  be  long,"  he  muttered.  "You'll 
take  cold."  He  stared  at  her  deshabille.  "  Don't 
be  silly,  Esme ;  go  back  to  bed." 

"  Dear."  She  put  her  hand  under  his  arm  and 
attempted  to  raise  him.  "  Come  with  me.  I 
am  afraid." 


The  Stronger  Influence  219 

She  looked  frightened  ;  her  face  was  blanched 
and  tense ;  her  whole  body  trembled.  He  stared 
at  her,  amazed.  Then  clumsily  he  got  on  to  his 
feet  and  stood  unsteadily  before  her,  assisted 
by  her  supporting  hand.  Slowly  she  led  him 
towards  the  door.  He  appeared  reluctant  to  go 
with  her  ;  and  at  the  door  he  halted  irresolutely 
and  attempted,  without  success,  to  free  himself 
from  her  hold.  Her  grasp  on  his  arm  tightened. 

"  Come  with  me,"  she  urged. 

"  I've  never  known  you  to  be  so  foolish  before," 
he  said.  '  Why  should  a  little  wind  make  you 
nervous  ?  It  blows  hard  often  enough  to  have 
accustomed  you  to  it." 

"  I  don't  feel  well,  Paul,"  she  pleaded.  "  I 
want  you  with  me." 

She  drew  him  on  towards  the  stairs.  He  took 
hold  of  the  banister  and  mounted,  stumbling, 
and  kicking  against  each  stair  in  his  progress. 
She  got  him  as  far  as  the  landing  ;  but  when 
she  strove  to  draw  him  on  towards  the  bedroom 
he  resisted. 

'  You  go  on,"  he  said.  "  I  must  go  down  and 
switch  off  the  lights  ?  " 

"Never  mind  the  lights,"  she  urged.  "Come 
with  me,  dear." 

"  I  must  go  down,"  he  repeated  with  irritable 
obstinacy.  "I  won't  be  a  minute.  Go  on,  and 
get  into  bed.  I'll  be  up  in  a  minute." 


22O  The  Stronger  Influence 

"  No,"  she  persisted,  and  got  between  him  and 
the  stairs,  and  put  out  a  hand  to  hinder  his 
descent.  "  Stay  with  me,  Paul,  I  don't  want 
you  to  go  down  again." 

With  darkening  looks,  and  anger  kindling  in  his 
resentful  eyes,  he  endeavoured  to  push  past  her. 
He  shook  off  her  hold  roughly,  and  made  a 
clumsy  movement  forward,  lurching  against  her 
heavily,  with  a  force  and  suddenness  which 
caused  her  to  overbalance.  She  threw  out  a 
hand  wildly  to  catch  at  the  rail,  missed  it,  and 
fell  headlong  down  the  stairs,  landing  with  a  crash 
upon  the  floor  of  the  hall,  where  she  lay,  an  inert 
and  crumpled  figure,  with  white  upturned  face 
showing  deathlike  in  the  artificial  light. 

Hallam  swayed  forward  dizzily  and  clutched  at 
the  rail  and  leaned  against  it  heavily. 

"  My  God  !  "  he  muttered,  and  hid  his  eyes  from 
the  sight  of  the  still  white  face. 

There  came  the  sound  of  doors  opening  behind 
him.  He  pulled  himself  together  quickly,  and 
stumbled  down  the  stairs,  and  knelt  on  the  floor 
beside  his  wife.  The  frightened  faces  of  the 
servants  peered  at  him  from  the  landing.  He 
did  not  look  up  :  he  was  stroking  his  wife's  hand 
and  speaking  to  her  softly  and  weeping.  His 
tears  splashed  upon  her  hand  and  upon  his  own 
hand ;  they  fell  warm  and  wet :  something  else 
warm  and  wet  touched  his  hand.  Abruptly  he 


The  Stronger  Influence  221 

became  aware  of  a  dark  stain  under  Esme's  head ; 
it  oozed  slowly,  and  spread  darkly  over  the 
polished  floor.  She  was  bleeding.  That  had 
to  be  stopped  anyway. 

The  shock  of  the  accident  had  sobered  him  ; 
the  cloud  cleared  away  from  his  brain  and  he 
was  able  to  think.  Quickly  he  went  to  the  tele- 
phone, hunted  up  a  number  and  rang  up  the 
doctor.  When  he  was  satisfied  that  help  would 
arrive  speedily  he  returned  to  his  post  beside 
the  unconscious  figure  of  his  wife,  and  slipped  a 
pillow,  which  one  of  the  servants  fetched  at  his 
bidding,  under  her  head.  He  moved  her  with 
infinite  care.  He  would  have  lifted  her  and 
carried  her  upstairs,  but  he  dared  not  trust  him- 
self with  this  task  which  in  his  sober  moments 
he  could  have  accomplished  with  the  utmost 
ease.  He  sat  beside  her,  holding  her  hand  and 
crying  uncontrollably,  until  the  doctor  arrived 
and  took  over  the  direction  of  affairs. 

Hallam,  stricken  with  remorse,  shaken,  and  dazed 
with  grief,  wandered  aimlessly  between  his  study 
and  the  landing,  and  stood  outside  the  bedroom 
door,  which  he  dared  not  open,  waiting  in  a  terrible 
suspense  for  information  of  his  wife's  condition. 

A  nurse  appeared  upon  the  scene.  He  did  not 
know  how  she  came  there  ;  he  did  not  know  who 
admitted  her.  He  heard  the  subdued  noise  of  her 
arrival,  and  later  met  her  on  the  stairs,  a  quiet- 


222  The  Stronger  Influence 

eyed,  resourceful-looking  woman,  who  watched 
him  with  interested  curiosity  as  he  passed  her  and 
went  down  and  shut  himself  in  his  study  once 
more.  In  the  cold  light  of  the  dawn  the  house 
seemed  alive  with  movement,  the  stealthy  rustling 
of  people  coming  and  going  on  tiptoe,  and  the  occa- 
sional murmur  of  voices  speaking  in  undertones. 

After  what  appeared  to  Hallam  an  intermin- 
able time  the  doctor  came  downstairs.  He  accom- 
panied Hallam  into  the  study  and  sat  down 
opposite  to  him  and  looked  with  keen,  understand- 
ing eyes  into  the  haggard  face  of  the  man  whose 
agony  of  mind  was  written  indelibly  on  every  line 
of  the  strongly  marked  features.  Hallam's  only 
question  was  : 

"  Will  she  live  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes." 

The  relief  of  this  assurance  was  so  tremendous 
that  he  scarcely  took  in  anything  else  that  was 
said.  The  doctor  outlined  the  injuries.  A  frac- 
tured base  was  the  most  serious  of  these.  He  asked 
permission  to  remove  the  patient  to  a  nursing- 
home.  The  case  required  skilled  nursing ;  it 
was  a  matter  of  time  and  care ;  absolute  quiet 
and  freedom  from  worry  were  essential.  The 
removal  could  be  accomplished  that  morning, 
if  he  were  agreeable.  Hallam  nodded. 

"  I  leave  everything  in  your  hands/'  he  said. 
"  You  know  best." 


The  Stronger  Influence  223 

He  felt  suddenly  very  tired.  The  strain  of 
anxiety  and  his  long  night  vigil  began  to  tell. 
The  doctor  eyed  him  keenly,  advised  food  and 
rest,  and  then  rose  and  went  out  to  his  car.  Hal- 
lam  closed  the  front  door  after  him,  and  turned 
towards  the  stairs  which  he  climbed  wearily. 

Outside  the  door  of  Esme's  room  he  halted  to 
listen.  There  was  no  sound  from  within.  The 
nurse  was  in  charge  he  knew.  He  had  no  thought 
of  entering  ;  he  did  not  desire  to  enter.  He  shrank 
from  the  idea  of  looking  upon  his  wife's  face  : 
the  memory  of  her  face,  still  and  white,  with  the 
dark  fringes  of  her  closed  eyes  resting  on  the 
deathlike  pallor  of  her  cheeks,  haunted  him ; 
it  would  haunt  him,  he  believed,  all  his  life. 

While  he  stood  there  outside  her  door,  in  the 
fault  light  that  was  creeping  in  wanly  as  the 
dawn  advanced,  he  resolved  that  her  life  should 
no  longer  be  darkened  with  his  presence  :  he 
would  go  away  somewhere — anywhere, — he  would 
become  lost  to  the  world  until  such  time  as  he 
could  feel  certain  that  the  curse  which  was  ruining 
their  married  happiness  was  conquered  finally 
and  for  ever.  Never  again  should  the  horror  of 
it  cloud  her  peace. 

With  head  sunk  on  his  breast  he  turned  away 
from  the  door  and  went  into  his  dressing-room 
and  threw  himself,  dressed  as  he  was,  upon  the 
bed. 


The  Stronger  Influence  XXVI 

FOLLOWING  the  departure  of  his  wife  in  an 
ambulance,  Hallam  made  his  own  prepara- 
tions for  leaving  home  for  an  indefinite  time.  He 
purposed  going  into  the  interior.  He  wanted  to 
be  alone,  away  from  the  influences  of  civiliza- 
tion and  the  sight  of  European  faces,  away  from 
the  memory  of  the  past  and  the  nightmare  of 
recent  events. 

Great  mental  anguish,  particularly  anguish  which 
is  accompanied  by  remorse,  tends  to  a  morbid 
condition  of  mind  which  renders  the  individual 
liable  to  act  in  a  manner  altogether  unusual. 
Hallam  made  his  preparations  as  a  man  might 
do  who  leaves  his  home  with  no  thought  of  ever 
returning.  He  left  quite  definite  and  detailed 
instructions  with  his  solicitor,  and  a  letter  for 
his  wife,  which  was  only  to  be  given  to  her  when 
she  was  strong  enough  to  receive  communica- 
tions of  a  startling  nature.  In  his  letter  he 
informed  her  that  he  had  left  her  until  such  time 
as  he  could  with  confidence  feel  that  he  would 
never  again  cause  her  such  distress  as  he  had 

224 


The  Stronger  Influence  225 

done  in  the  past.  He  wrote  with  restraint  but 
with  very  deep  feeling  of  his  undying  love  for 
her  and  of  his  remorse  for  what  had  happened, 
and  ended  by  bidding  her  keep  a  brave  heart  and 
carry  on  until  his  return. 

He  posted  this  letter,  with  instructions  as  to 
its  delivery,  under  cover  to  his  lawyer,  and  com- 
pleted his  personal  arrangements,  and  left  by  the 
train  going  north. 

He  had  no  clear  idea  as  to  his  destination  at 
the  time  of  entraining ;  his  one  thought  was  to 
get  as  far  away  from  civilization  as  possible : 
he  intended  to  make  for  the  Congo.  Besides  a 
light  kit,  he  was  provided  with  sufficient  money 
and  his  gun,  which  he  carried  in  its  case.  The 
undertaking  was  adventurous ;  but  it  was  in 
no  spirit  of  adventure  that  he  started  ;  his  heart 
was  heavy  and  his  mind  clouded  and  depressed, 
preoccupied  with  thoughts  of  Esme  lying  ill  and 
alone  in  a  nursing-home — too  ill  to  concern  herself 
about  him  for  the  present ;  but  later  he  knew  she 
would  ask  for  him  and  wonder  why  he  did  not 
come.  That  could  not  be  avoided :  she  would 
grow  reconciled  to  his  absence,  and  she  would  get 
well  quicker  without  him  to  worry  about. 

Hallam  had  secured  a  compartment  to  him- 
self, a  fact  which  gave  him  immense  satisfaction. 
He  leaned  with  his  arms  on  the  window  and 
surveyed  the  lively  scene  on  the  platform  in 

15 


226  The  Stronger  Influence 

gloomy  abstraction  in  the  interval  before  the 
train  started.  Other  passengers  leaned  from  the 
windows  also  for  a  few  last  words  with  friends 
who  were  seeing  them  off.  But  Hallam  spoke  to 
no  one,  and  no  one  paid  any  attention  to  the 
solitary  man  looking  from  his  compartment  on 
the  animated  scene  below.  Doors  slammed 
noisily,  and  the  guard  raised  his  flag,  and  instantly 
lowered  it  again  as,  amid  a  confusion  of  bustle 
and  excitement,  two  belated  travellers  arrived 
and  were  bundled  unceremoniously  into  the  car- 
riage next  to  Hallam 's.  Their  baggage  was  flung 
in  through  the  windows  after  them.  Then  the 
whistle  sounded  and  the  train  moved  slowly  out 
of  the  station. 

Disturbed  and  singularly  annoyed,  Hallam  drew 
back  and  sat  down  in  the  corner  seat.  The 
people  whose  tardy  arrival  had  delayed  the  start 
by  a  couple  of  minutes  were  the  Garfields.  He 
had  recognized  them  instantly ;  he  believed  that 
they  had  seen  and  recognized  him.  He  felt  oddly 
irritated.  Had  his  flight  been  a  criminal  proceed- 
ing and  the  secrecy  of  his  movements  imperative, 
he  could  not  have  been  more  discomposed  by  the 
knowledge  that  these  people,  who  were  friends 
of  his  wife  and  with  whom  he  was  acquainted, 
were  in  the  next  compartment  to  his.  He  would 
probably  encounter  them  later,  almost  certainly 
they  would  meet  in  the  restaurant-car.  They 


The  Stronger  Influence  227 

would  regard  it  in  the  light  of  a  social  obligation 
to  inquire  for  his  wife.  Mrs.  Garfield  had  already 
called  both  at  the  house  and  at  the  nursing-home 
for  news  of  Esme.  He  had  not  seen  her ;  he 
shrank  from  the  thought  of  seeing  her ;  but  he 
knew  that  he  would  be  compelled  to  face  her 
sooner  or  later.  She  was  one  of  the  few  people 
whose  persistent  friendship  for  his  wife  refused 
to  be  dismayed  by  an  absence  of  response.  She 
understood  Esme's  difficulties,  and  sympathized 
with  and  admired  her  tremendously. 

The  news  of  the  accident,  which  no  one  associ- 
ated with  Hallam,  had  genuinely  distressed  her. 
If  by  her  presence  she  could  have  been  of  service 
during  Esme's  illness  she  would  have  put  off  her 
journey  to  the  Falls  ;  but  her  visit  to  the  nursing- 
home  had  convinced  her  that  Esme  was  not 
in  a  condition  to  need  any  one ;  she  might  be 
of  some  use  later  during  the  period  of  con- 
valescence. 

Her  surprise  at  seeing  Hallam  on  the  train 
was  great.  That  he  should  be  leaving  Cape  Town 
then  occurred  to  her  as  little  short  of  amazing. 
While  her  husband  was  engaged  in  stowing  their 
baggage  away  on  the  racks  she  asked  him  if  he 
had  noticed  who  was  in  the  next  compartment 
to  theirs.  Apparently  he  had.  He  looked  down 
at  her  and  nodded. 

"  Odd  chap !  "  he  said.     "  Most    men   would 


228  The  Stronger  Influence 

prefer  to  remain  on  the  spot,  even  if  their  presence 
wasn't  actually  needed." 

"  The  journey  may  be  a  matter  of  necessity,"  she 
said. 

"  It  may  be,  of  course."  He  lifted  the  last 
bag  up  to  the  rack  and  sat  down  opposite  to  her 
and  unrolled  a  bundle  of  papers.  "  We  ran  it 
rather  fine,  old  girl.  The  next  time  I  take  you 
on  a  holiday  I  hope  you'll  get  forrader  with  your 
preparations." 

"  You  old  Adam,  you  !  "  she  said,  smiling,  and 
leaned  forward  to  pat  his  knee. 

And  the  man  in  the  next  compartment  sat  and 
smoked  and  meditated  gloomily,  while  the  train 
ran  on  through  fertile  grassveld  towards  the 
mountains  and  the  sterile  plain  which  lay  beyond 
them. 

In  the  vexation  of  seeing  people  he  knew  on  the 
train,  Hallam's  first  thought  had  been  to  leave  it 
at  a  convenient  stopping  place  and  wait  for 
the  next  train  and  so  resume  his  journey  ;  but  on 
reflection  this  idea  seemed  a  little  absurd.  Of 
what  interest  could  his  movements  possibly  be 
to  the  Garfields  ?  They  would  leave  the  train 
in  all  probability  long  before  he  did,  and  the 
greatest  inconvenience  their  presence  would  cause 
him  would  be  an  occasional  and  brief  encounter. 

The  first  encounter  occurred  very  speedily :  Mr. 
Garfield  came  to  his  compartment  and  stood  in 


The  Stronger  Influence  229 

the  corridor  and  inquired  after  his  wife.  He 
expressed  much  sympathy  with  Hallam. 

"  We  were  shocked,"  he  said,  "  when  we  heard. 
My  wife  called  at  the  nursing-home,  but  she 
wasn't  allowed  to  see  Mrs.  Hallam.  I  trust  she 
is  doing  well  ?  ' 

"  The  doctor  tells  me  so,"  Hallam  answered, 
with  what  the  other  man  considered  a  curious 
lack  of  feeling.  "  She  is  too  ill  at  present  to  see 
any  one." 

The  talk  hung  for  a  while.  Mr.  Garfield,  who 
never  felt  at  his  ease  with  Hallam,  was  none  the 
less  profoundly  sorry  for  the  man.  He  believed 
that  the  callous  manner  was  assumed  to  cloak 
his  real  feelings.  The  haggard  face  and  sombre 
eyes  betokened  considerable  mental  anguish. 

"  It  is  rather  an  awkward  time  for  you  to  have 
to  get  away,"  he  ventured. 

"  It  is."  Hallam 's  tone  became  more  con- 
strained. He  moved  restlessly,  and  looked  beyond 
the  speaker  out  at  the  changing  scenery.  "  But 
at  least  I  can't  help  by  remaining,"  he  added. 
Abruptly  he  brought  his  gaze  back  again  and 
looked  steadily  into  the  other's  eyes  with  an 
expression  that  was  faintly  apologetic.  "  I  haven't 
recovered  from  the  shock  yet,"  he  said.  "I'm 
worried." 

Garfield  nodded  sympathetically. 

"  My  dear  fellow,  of  course.     It's  not  surprising 


230  The  Stronger  Influence 

that  you  should  be.  If  we  can  do  anything,  let  us 
know.  And  if  you  want  a  chat  come  along  to 
our  compartment ;  we're  only  next  door.  I'm 
taking  the  wife  to  the  Falls.  It's  her  first  visit. 
I  expect  we'll  put  in  about  a  couple  of  weeks  there. 
Do  you  go  as  far  ?  ' 

"I'm  going  farther,"  Hallam  answered  briefly. 
But,  although  Garfield  looked  inquiry,  he  did 
not  give  him  any  more  definite  information  in 
regard  to  his  destination. 

Hallam  had  started  on  his  journey  with  no 
thought  of  deserting  his  wife  and  leaving  his 
home  for  ever  :  he  had  come  away  simply  because 
he  felt  the  imperative  necessity  for  change  and 
solitude.  The  man's  mind  was  dark  with  despair. 
This  feeling  of  despair  deepened  with  every  pass- 
ing hour.  Fear  held  him  in  its  grip.  He  mis- 
trusted himself.  The  horror  of  what  had  happened 
haunted  him  night  and  day  ;  he  could  not  sleep 
for  thinking  of  it.  Always  before  his  mind's  eye 
was  the  picture  of  his  wife — falling — falling  head- 
long— striking  the  ground  with  a.  thud — lying 
still  and  white  at  the  foot  of  the  stairs,  with  the 
dark  stain  under  her  head  slowly  spreading  on 
the  darker  wood  of  the  floor  .... 

How  had  this  thing  happened?  How  had  he 
come  to  lose  control  of  himself  completely  ?  He 
ought  not  to  have  married  her.  He  had  done  her 
an  irreparable  injury  by  tying  her  life  to  his.  .  .  . 


The  Stronger  Influence  231 

Throughout  the  long  hot  days  he  sat  in  his 
compartment  and  brooded,  and  when  the  gold 
merged  with  the  evening  purple,  and  the  purple 
deepened  to  night,  he  stretched  himself  on  his 
bunk,  and  lay  looking  out  at  the  star- strewn  sky 
through  the  unshuttered  windows,  and  brooded 
still  with  a  mind  too  distraught  to  rest. 

He  believed  that  some  brain  sickness  was  coming 
upon  him  ;  he  felt  wretchedly  ill ;  and  from  the 
way  in  which  people  stared  at  him  when  he 
entered  the  dining-car  he  judged  that  his  appear- 
ance evidenced  his  physical  and  mental  debility. 
Although  he  forced  himself  to  go  to  meals  he  ate 
little  ;  he  had  no  appetite  for  food ;  the  smell 
and  the  sight  of  it  nauseated  him. 

He  began  to  think  that  he  would  be  compelled 
to  leave  the  train  :  the  confined  space  and  the 
heat  were  making  him  ill.  He  found  himself 
falling  into  the  habit  of  talking  to  himself.  This 
development  horrified  him  no  more  than  it  horri- 
fied Mrs.  Garfield,  who  overheard  him,  and  com- 
municated her  fear  to  her  husband  that  Hallam 
was  mad.  His  proximity  made  her  nervous. 
She  lay  awake  the  greater  part  of  one  night 
listening  to  his  mutterings,  and  fell  asleep  with 
the  dawn  and  slept  heavily  until  breakfast  time. 
It  came  as  a  great  relief  to  her  to  discover  later 
that  Hallam  had  left  the  train  in  the  early  morning. 

He  had  alighted  at  a  wayside  halt,  moved  by  an 


232  The  Stronger  Influence 

inexplicable  impulse  too  strong  to  resist.  Dread 
of  another  long  day,  of  another  sleepless  night 
on  the  train,  had  been  the  ruling  motive.  He 
felt  that  if  he  did  not  get  out  and  walk  he  would 
be  ill.  He  was  on  the  verge  of  a  collapse,  and  in 
no  condition  of  mind  to  realize  the  foolishness 
of  alighting  in  this  barren  waste,  with  no  prospect 
of  shelter  or  refreshment  within  view.  There 
must  be  farms  somewhere  in  the  neighbourhood, 
he  judged,  or  at  least  a  native  hut  where  he 
could  procure  all  he  needed.  For  the  moment 
he  required  only  to  walk  in  the  pure  air,  to  exert 
his  muscles,  and  rid  himself  of  the  intolerable 
strain  on  his  overcharged  nerves.  Something 
had  seemed  to  snap  in  his  brain  during  the  night. 
He  found  it  increasingly  difficult  to  concentrate 
his  attention  on  anything  for  long.  But  the 
idea  that  he  must  walk  obsessed  him ;  and,  with 
his  gun-case  in  hand  and  his  kit  across  his  shoulders, 
he  struck  across  the  veld,  turning  his  back  on 
the  permanent  way. 

It  did  not  greatly  matter  which  direction  he 
took  ;  he  had  no  particular  objective  in  view  : 
he  wanted  chiefly  to  shake  off  this  annoying  sense 
of  unfitness.  He  had  never  been  ill  in  his  life 
before  :  he  did  not  understand  it.  It  had  seemed 
to  him  that  if  he  could  walk  he  would  be  all  right, 
and  instead  he  felt  worse.  He  was  giddy,  and  he 
could  not  make  any  pace.  He  took  a  bush  for  a 


'The  Stronger  Influence  233 

landmark  and  noted  how  long  he  was  in  reaching 
it.  It  amazed  him.  He  became  angrily  impatient 
with  his  own  laggard  steps  :  he  wasn't  walking, 
he  was  crawling — crawling  like  a  sick  animal, 
with  a  sick  animal's  instinct  to  find  some  hole  to 
creep  into. 

He  looked  about  him  vaguely,  with  tired  eyes. 
That  was  what  he  wanted,  all  he  wanted, — some 
quiet  shelter  into  which  to  crawl  and  rest. 

He  stumbled  on,  tripping  over  the  dry  scrub, 
lurching  heavily  like  a  drunken  man,  and  clinging 
tightly  to  his  gun-case,  as  to  something  from 
which  he  would  not  be  separated,  though  the 
weight  of  it  was  too  great  for  his  failing  strength. 
Twice  he  came  to  his  knees  ;  but  each  time  he  rose 
again  and  stumbled  blindly  on  as  before. 

The  sun  rose  higher  in  the  heavens.  It  poured 
its  warmth  like  some  molten  stream  upon  the 
gaping  ground.  For  miles  around  the  veld 
stretched  in  unbroken  sameness,  blackened  from 
the  long  drought,  sparse  and  scrubby,  with  never 
a  sign  of  any  living  thing,  save  the  solitary  man's 
figure,  moving  slowly,  with  heavy  uncertain 
gait,  in  quest  of  some  temporary  shelter  from  the 
sun's  burning  rays. 

It  seemed  to  Hallam  that  he  walked  many 
miles  and  for  many  hours  before,  a  long  way 
off  like  some  wonderful  oasis  amid  the  arid  waste, 
he  descried  signs  of  water,  and  the  wooded  banks 


234  The  Stronger  Influence 

of  a  river  which  meandered  like  a  green  irregular 
wall  across  the  stark  nakedness  of  the  land.  The 
sight  of  this  unexpected  fertility  gave  him  fresh 
heart  and  stimulated  his  failing  energies  to  further 
effort.  By  sheer  force  of  will  he  dragged  his 
lagging  feet  over  the  uneven  ground.  He  desired 
only  to  reach  the  river  and  lie  down  beside  it  and 
rest.  He  longed  simply  to  get  to  the  water,  to 
feel  it,  to  lave  his  burning  brow  in  its  coolness, 
to  moisten  his  parched  lips. 

Again  he  fell,  and  again  he  rose  and  staggered  on, 
covering  the  intervening  space  painfully  and 
slowly.  When  he  was  quite  close  to  the  bank  he 
fell  once  more,  and  this  time  he  failed  to  rise, 
despite  his  persistent  efforts.  For  the  first  time 
his  hold  on  his  gun- case  relaxed.  He  stared  at 
it  regretfully ;  but  he  knew  that  he  was  power- 
less to  drag  it  further.  He  left  it  lying  where  it 
was,  and  crawled  on  his  hands  and  knees  painfully 
towards  the  bushes,  crawled  between  them,  and 
reached  the  shallow  river  which  had  been  his  goal. 


The  Stronger  Influence  XXVII 

E SHE'S  accident,  and  the  contemporaneous 
and  mysterious  disappearance  of  Hallam, 
brought  Rose  in  haste  and  at  great  personal 
inconvenience  round  to  Cape  Town.  She  was 
terribly  worried  about  her  sister,  and  enormously 
concerned  at  Hallam 's  departure  at  a  time  when 
it  seemed  to  her  his  presence  was  urgently  needed. 

Her  concern  deepened  as  the  days  passed,  the 
weeks  passed,  and  still  there  was  no  word  from 
him,  no  news  of  his  whereabouts.  The  informa- 
tion which  the  Garfields  furnished  on  their  return 
gave  a  sinister  aspect  to  the  look  of  things.  And 
Esme  as  she  got  better  was  continually  asking 
for  her  husband  She  fretted  at  his  absence ; 
and  when  ultimately  she  was  allowed  to  have 
the  letter  he  had  left  for  her,  though  she  ceased 
to  ask  for  him,  she  fretted  more  than  before. 

The  contents  of  the  letter,  which  she  refused 
to  allow  any  one  else  to  read,  upset  her  greatly. 
It  elucidated  nothing  of  the  mystery  of  his  com- 
plete disappearance,  but  merely  informed  her 
that  he  had  gone  away  for  an  indefinite  time. 

236 


236  I 'he  Stronger  Influence 

She  felt  assured  from  her  knowledge  of  him  that  he 
would  never  return  until  he  was  master  of  himself. 

Her  heart  was  nigh  to  breaking  with  her  longing 
for  him,  and  with  pity,  pity  for  the  suffering 
which  she  knew  he  was  enduring  :  his  agony  of 
mind  must  be  terrible.  She  wanted  to  see  him, 
to  put  her  arms  about  him  and  bid  him  think 
no  more  of  what  was  past.  It  was  grievous  to 
her  to  think  of  him  alone  with  heart  and  mind 
heavy  with  sorrow  and  remorse.  If  only  she 
could  be  with  him  she  would  help  him  to  forget. 
The  injury  to  herself  seemed  to  her  so  small  a 
part  of  the  trouble  ;  it  was  so  entirely  accidental : 
largely  her  own  carelessness  was  responsible  for 
her  fall ;  if  she  had  been  on  her  guard  it  need 
not  have  happened.  She  believed  that  if  she 
could  talk  to  him  she  could  make  him  see  this. 
She  wanted  to  help  him,  to  comfort  him.  And 
she  wanted  him  beside  her,  wanted  his  love,  his 
presence,  with  a  feverish  urgency  that  burned 
like  a  fever  in  her  veins,  and  left  her  sick  with 
unsatisfied  longing  as  the  days  dragged  by  without 
bringing  him,  without  bringing  news  of  him  even. 
If  he  had  died  he  could  not  have  vanished  more 
completely  out  of  her  life. 

Her  sister  urged  her  to  return  with  her  to  the 
Bay  until  she  was  stronger  and  more  fitted  to 
be  alone ;  but  Esme  preferred  to  remain  in  her 
own  home. 


The  Stronger  Influence  237 

"  Any  day  he  may  return,"  she  said.  "  I  would 
not  like  him  to  come  back  and  find  me  gone." 

"  He  would  understand,"  Rose  said  sensibly. 
"  At  least  he  would  know  where  to  look  for  you." 

She  did  not  herself  believe  that  her  brother- 
in-law  would  return.  The  whole  affair  was  to 
her  mysterious  and  inexplicable. 

"  Did  you  quarrel  with  Paul  ?  '  she  asked 
bluntly. 

Esme  lifted  astonished  eyes  to  the  questioner's 
face. 

"  Quarrel !  "  she  repeated,  aghast  at  the  mere 
suggestion,  and  too  genuinely  surprised  to  leave 
any  doubt  as  to  the  amicable  conditions  of  her 
relations  with  her  husband  in  Rose's  mind. 
"  Paul  and  I  never  quarrelled  over  anything." 

"Then  it's  a  pity  you  didn't,"  Rose  replied 
practically.  "  It  lets  off  steam.  You  know,  my 
dear,"  she  added,  and  passed  a  caressing  arm 
round  Esme's  shoulders,  "  your  husband  possesses 
a  very  complex  nature.  Judged  from  the  ordinary 
standpoint,  it's  an  outrageous  thing  for  him  to  go 
away  like  this ;  in  the  circumstances  it  is  even  cruel. 
Don't  you  think  it  would  be  good  for  him  when 
he  returned  to  find  that  you  had  gone  back  to 
your  own  people  ? —  that  you  were  not  content 
to  sit  at  home  and  wait  for  him  ?  I'd  show  more 
spirit,  Esme.  A  man  like  Paul  is  apt  to  become 
neglectful  without  intending  it.  He  should  be 


238  The  Stronger  Influence 

made  to  think.     You  ought  not  to  be  alone  until 
you  are  strong  again." 

"  I  should  like  him  to  find  his  home  open," 
Esme  answered,  "  and  a  welcome  waiting  for 
him  when  he  comes  back." 

There  was  no  doubt  in  her  own  mind  that  one 
day  he  would  come  back.  She  believed  that  he 
would  walk  in  unexpectedly,  quite  suddenly  as 
he  had  gone  ;  and  she  would  feel  his  strong  arms 
round  her,  and  in  their  shelter  forget  all  the  sorrow 
and  perplexity  of  their  separation.  That  belief 
buoyed  her  up  and  gave  her  courage  to  wait. 
She  would  not  desert  her  post  while  he  was  absent 
working  out  his  salvation  in  his  own  way. 

Rose  left  her  and  went  back  to  her  home,  and 
so  imbued  Jim  with  her  doubts  that  he  sought 
advice  on  the  matter,  and  eventually  instigated 
a  search  for  Hallam,  who  was  not,  in  his  opinion, 
responsible  for  his  actions. 

^Hallam's  disappearance  seemed  as  complete  as 
if  he  had  vanished  off  the  face  of  the  earth.  For 
months  his  whereabouts  baffled  all  inquiries. 
People  referred  to  him  in  the  past  tense  as  they 
might  refer  to  a  man  who  is  dead.  Generally  it 
was  believed  that  he  was  dead.  From  the  point 
where  he  left  the  train  nothing  was  known  of  his 
movements :  no  one  appeared  to  have  seen  him 
after  that ;  no  one  in  the  district,  which  con- 
sisted of  a  few  scattered  farms,  had  heard  of  or 


The  Stronger  Influence  239 

seen  any  stranger ;  if  he  had  passed  through 
their  land  he  had  not  made  his  presence  known. 
It  was  thought  to  be  unlikely  that  he  had  remained 
in  the  district.  Possibly  he  had  changed  his 
mind  and  taken  again  to  the  train. 

This  theory  gained  credence  when  later  the 
body  of  a  man,  answering  to  Hallam's  description, 
was  discovered  in  a  lonely  spot  a  day's  journey 
from  the  halt  where  he  had  left  the  train.  There 
was  nothing  to  show  how  the  man  had  met  his 
death,  and,  owing  to  the  state  of  the  body,  recog- 
nition of  the  features  was  impossible ;  but  the 
clothes  were  the  clothes  which  Hallam  had  been 
wearing,  and  in  the  pockets  were  letters  addressed 
to  Hallam,  and  the  watch  which  had  been  a  present 
to  him  from  his  wife.  The  facts  seemed  to  point 
conclusively  to  this  being  the  missing  man ;  other- 
wise how  came  he  to  be  wearing  Hallam's  clothes, 
and  where  was  the  owner  ?  Had  Hallam  been 
alive  he  would  assuredly  have  come  forward  to 
refute  the  finding  at  the  inquest  on  the  dead  man, 
whose  identity  could  only  be  established  by  his 
garments  and  the  papers  discovered  on  him. 

There  was  no  doubt  in  Jim  Bainbridge's  mind, 
when  he  viewed  the  body,  that  it  was  that  of  Paul 
Hallam  ;  and,  although  for  a  long  while  Esme" 
refused  to  believe  that  her  husband  was  dead, 
the  hope  which  she  cherished  of  his  being  alive 
was  a  forlorn  hope,  which  faded  with  the  passing 


240  The  Stronger  Influence 

of  time  into  a  reluctant  acceptance  of  the  general 
belief. 

It  was  during  the  period  of  uncertainty,  when 
her  mind  still  obstinately  rejected  the  evidence 
of  her  husband's  death,  that  Esme  decided  to 
give  up  her  house  in  Cape  Town  and  move  to 
Port  Elizabeth  in  order  to  be  near  her  sister. 
She  felt  too  nervous  and  unstrung  to  remain 
alone  in  a  place  where  her  only  intimate  friends 
were  the  Garfields ;  she  wanted  to  be  nearer 
her  own  people.  To  the  infinite  satisfaction  of 
John  and  Mary,  she  took  a  house,  with  a  good 
garden  attached,  in  Park  Drive,  and  brought 
her  furniture  round  with  the  definite  intention 
of  making  her  home  there. 

Promptly  with  her  arrival  John  packed  his 
suit-case  and  invited  himself  to  stay  with  her. 
He  could,  he  informed  her,  be  of  considerable  use 
to  her  in  the  business  of  settling  in.  John  at  the 
age  of  twelve  was  quite  a  man  of  the  world.  In 
her  loneliness  she  was  glad  of  his  company.  This 
young  kinsman  of  hers  was  the  most  tactful  mem- 
ber of  her  family.  He  never  distressed  her  with 
references  to  his  uncle  ;  he  took  his  disappearance 
as  a  matter  of  course,  very  much  as  he  had  taken 
his  marriage  with  his  aunt.  These  things  were 
incidental,  and  a  little  surprising :  they  were 
episodes  in  the  pleasant  business  of  life.  Since 
the  loss  of  his  uncle  had  brought  his  aunt  back 


The  Stronger  Influence  241 

he  was  less  concerned  about  it  than  he  otherwise 
would  have  been. 

He  found  it  interesting  to  assist  in  moving  in, 
to  take  over  the  direction  and  arrangement  of 
everything.  It  needed  a  man  to  do  that. 

"  Dad's  getting  old,"  he  informed  Esme,  when 
he  took  up  his  residence  with  her.  "  But  you 
can  always  count  on  me  when  you  want  a  man 
about." 

'  That's  very  nice  of  you,  John,"  she  said. 
'  You  are  a  great  help  to  me." 

He  came  to  her  one  day  in  the  garden,  carrying 
a  leggy  retriever  pup,  which  he  thrust  into  her 
arms  with  an  air  of  magnificent  generosity. 

"  I  got  a  dog  for  you,"  he  explained.  (  You 
must  have  a  watch- dog,  you  know.  George  gave 
me  the  pick  of  his  litter.  When  I  told  him  I 
wanted  it  for  you,  he  let  me  have  his  best  pup." 

"  Oh  !  "  she  cried  quickly,  and  put  the  little 
beast  down  and  stooped  to  pat  it.  "It's  sweet ; 
but  you  must  keep  it.  I  won't  take  your  pup." 

"  We'll  share  it,"  John  returned  magnani- 
mously. "  It  will  stay  here.  I  expect  I'll  run 
up  most  days  to  see  it."  He  fondled  the  puppy 
lovingly.  "  Isn't  he  a  beauty  ?  He's  called 
Regret." 

"  Regret !  "  she  repeated  slowly.  "  I  don't 
think  I  like  that  name  for  a  dog.  Let  us  change 
it,  shall  we  ?  " 

16 


242  The  Stronger  Influence 

"  I  thought  it  a  silly  sort  of  name  myself," 
John  replied.  "  But  George  named  it.  Perhaps 
he  wouldn't  like  it  changed.  We  can  cut  it  down 
to  Gret." 

She  bent  down  suddenly  and  kissed  him,  to 
his  no  small  surprise.  It  pleased  her  that  he 
showed  consideration  for  others  in  his  direct 
boyish  way  :  she  wondered  whence  he  inherited 
that  kindly  characteristic. 

John  suffered  the  caress,  but  he  looked  embar- 
rassed. 

"  I  say,"  he  said ;  "  that's  all  right  when  we 
are  alone  ;  but  don't  do  it  in  front  of  the  others." 

And  then,  in  case  he  had  hurt  her  feelings,  he 
slipped  an  arm  round  her  waist,  and  walked 
with  her,  carrying  the  puppy,  down  the  garden 
path  in  the  brief  twilight  before  the  darkness 
fell. 


Book  IV 

The  Stronger  Influence  XXVlll 

FOUR  years  passed  away.  They  were  the 
years  of  the  Great  War,  which  flung  the 
world  into  mourning  and  left  a  pall  of  depression 
like  a  blighting  legacy  on  its  passing. 

Among  the  men  who  left  South  Africa  for  Europe 
to  fight  for  the  old  country  was  George  Sinclair. 
He  had  been  one  of  the  first  to  go  ;  and  after 
three  years,  the  greater  part  of  which  was  spent 
in  France,  he  was  shot  through  the  lung,  and 
invalided  out  and  sent  for  treatment  to  England. 

During  the  years  he  was  away  he  wrote  to 
Esme  regularly.  He  had  begged  permission  to 
write  to  her  before  he  left.  He  did  not  ask  her 
to  write  in  reply  ;  and  for  a  long  while  she  received 
his  letters  without  any  thought  of  answering  them. 
But,  as  the  war  progressed  and  the  horrors  of 
war  deepened,  her  sympathy  with  the  man  and 
her  admiration  for  his  cheerful  courage,  moved 
her  to  open  a  correspondence  with  him. 

She  kept  this  letter  writing  up  after  he  was 

243 


244  The  Stronger  Influence 

in  hospital,  until  she  learnt  from  him  that  he  was 
well  and  shortly  sailing  for  home.  Then,  though 
he  still  wrote  every  week,  her  letters  ceased 
abruptly.  She  dreaded  his  coming  out.  She 
knew  that  he  still  loved  her,  that  he  meant  to 
ask  her  to  marry  him.  He  had  given  her  to 
understand  that  before  he  left.  She  liked  him. 
In  a  friendly  way  she  was  fond  of  him ;  but  all 
her  love  had  been  given  to  Paul  Hallam ;  and, 
although  she  now  accepted  the  evidence  of  his 
death,  her  heart  still  cherished  his  memory,  and 
turned  in  unforgettable  longing  towards  the 
past.  Her  happiness  had  ended  in  tragedy : 
but  that  was  the  common  lot  in  those  tragic 
times. 

The  war  with  its  harvest  of  death  and  suffering 
had  put  her  own  trouble  further  into  the  back- 
ground than  time  itself  could  have  succeeded 
in  doing.  So  much  had  happened  within  the 
past  four  years  that  was  sad  and  stirring  and 
broad  in  its  appeal  to  the  sympathies  of  even 
those  outside  the  reach  of  these  terrific  happen- 
ings that  the  egotism  of  personal  grief  was  merged 
with  the  wider  sorrow  in  which  the  world  shared. 
It  was  no  time  for  brooding :  a  common  tragedy 
called  for  the  utmost  effort  of  endurance  from 
all. 

In  a  sense  the  war  proved  helpful  to  Esme  ; 
the  horror  of  the  calamity  took  her  out  of  herself, 


The  Stronger  Influence  245 

and  prevented  her  from  growing  morbid  through 
the  overwhelming  shock  of  her  own  great  loss. 
It  had  taken  her  a  long  time  to  reconcile  herself 
to  the  belief  that  Paul  was  dead.  Conviction 
came  to  her  slowly  with  the  passing  of  time,  and 
the  absence  of  any  word  from  him.  If  he  had 
been  alive  he  would  have  contrived  to  let  her 
know.  It  was  unthinkable  that  he  should  have 
left  her  deliberately  in  a  terrible  suspense.  Hope 
died  hard  within  her,  but  it  died  surely.  She 
mourned  him  as  dead  in  her  thoughts.  But 
she  could  never  bring  herself  to  visit  the  grave 
where  he  was  laid  to  rest,  above  which  had  been 
erected  a  simple  granite  cross,  inscribed  with 
his  name  and  the  date  of  the  year  in  which  he 
died.  Jim  had  seen  to  these  matters  for  her ; 
she  had  been  satisfied  to  leave  them  to  him,  and 
to  ask  no  questions.  In  his  way  her  brother-in- 
law  had  been  kind  and  helpful.  And  John,  who 
spent  all  his  leisure  time  at  her  house,  which 
had  become  a  second  home  for  him,  proved  a 
great  comfort  and  companion. 

John  was  now  sixteen,  and  his  only  regret  was 
that  he  was  not  old  enough  to  join  up.  He 
admired  and  envied  George  Sinclair  profoundly. 
To  return  after  three  years'  fighting  with  a  pierced 
lung  and  covered  with  glory  was  a  splendid  record 
in  young  John's  estimation.  He  awaited  Sin- 
clair's return  impatiently,  eager  for  first-hand 


246  The  Stronger  Influence 

information  of  the  wonderful  doings  in  which  he 
had  longed  to  take  part ;  while  Esme  awaited 
his  coming  with  misgivings,  and  wondered  what 
she  would  find  to  say  to  him  when  they  met. 
She  recalled  very  vividly  his  coming  to  say  good- 
bye to  her  on  the  evening  before  he  sailed. 

"  I  am  going  to  write  to  you,"  he  had  said, 
with  his  blue  eyes  on  her  face.  "  Please  don't 
forbid  me  that  pleasure  ;  it  will  be  a  tremendous 
help  to  me  to  be  able  to  talk  to  you  on  paper. 
I  may  never  come  back,  you  know ;  but  if  I  do 
I  shall  come  straight  to  you." 

He  had  gone  away  wearing  a  photograph  of 
her  which  Rose  had  given  him  ;  that,  and  her 
friendly  occasional  letters,  had  proved  the  greatest 
happiness  during  those  days  of  war  and  horror 
and  discomfort.  And  now  he  was  returning, 
with  her  photograph  worn  in  a  locket,  and  with 
her  letters,  so  frequently  read  that  they  tore 
where  they  were  folded,  tied  together  with  a 
piece  of  ribbon  that  once  had  adorned  a  box  of 
chocolates,  and  was  faded  and  discoloured  even 
as  the  package  which  it  secured. 

He  came  to  her,  as  he  had  said  he  would  do, 
as  soon  as  he  arrived  in  the  Bay.  He  was  shy, 
and  a  little  uncertain  of  the  welcome  likely  to 
be  accorded  to  him.  The  sudden  cessation  ol 
her  letters  had  damped  his  hopes  considerably. 

She  was  walking  in  the  garden  when  his  taxi 


The  Stronger  Influence  247 

stopped  at  the  gate.  He  caught  a  glimpse  of 
her  through  the  mimosa  trees,  pacing  the  path 
slowly  with  the  dog,  Regret,  walking  beside 
her,  close  to  her,  his  nose  touching  the  hand  which 
hung  loosely  at  her  side. 

Sinclair  dismissed  his  driver  and  opened  the 
gate  and  advanced  swiftly  along  the  path  towards 
her.  She  saw  him  and  stood  still,  flushed  and 
obviously  nervous,  waiting  for  him,  while  the 
dog  bounded  forward  and  sniffed  the  newcomer 
inquisitively,  and  finally  leapt  upon  him  in  bois- 
terous greeting.  He  patted  the  dog's  head,  pushed 
it  aside,  and  approached  the  woman,  who  remained 
still,  watching  him  with  eyes  which  smiled  their 
welcome.  He  took  her  outstretched  hand  and 
held  it  while  he  looked  long  and  steadily  into 
the  face  which  had  lived  in  his  memory  from  the 
time  when  years  ago  he  had  met  and  loved  her 
at  the  Zuurberg.  Outwardly  she  had  changed 
little  :  life  had  scored  far  deeper  impressions  on 
his  face  than  on  hers. 

"  So  glad  to  see  you  back,  George,"  she  said, 
with  a  faint  show  of  embarrassment  in  her  manner 
under  his  continued  scrutiny.  "  So  very  glad  to 
see  you  safe  and  sound." 

He  approached  his  face  a  little  nearer  to  hers, 
still  retaining  her  hand,  which  he  held  in  a  firm 

grip. 

"  May  I  kiss  you  ?  "  he  asked. 


248  The  Stronger  Influence 

Instinctively  she  drew  back,  and  then,  as 
though  regretting  the  impulse  which  had  moved 
her  to  refuse  his  request,  lifted  her  face  and  allowed 
him  to  kiss  her  lips.  He  dropped  her  hand 
then,  and  turned  and  walked  beside  her  towards 
the  house. 

"  You  can't  think  what  it  means  to  me,"  he 
said,  "to  be  home  again — and  with  you.  I've 
had  you  in  my  thoughts,  dear,  every  day.  Why 
did  you  suddenly  cease  writing,  Esme  ?  ' 

"  I  don't  know,"  she  answered  shyly,  and  ran 
up  the  steps  on  to  the  stoep  and  entered  the  house 
through  the  drawing-room  window. 

He  followed  more  slowly.  His  gaze,  travelling 
round  the  pretty  room,  fell  on  his  own  photo- 
graph in  uniform  on  the  mantel-piece.  He  had 
sent  her  the  photograph  from  England,  and  it 
pleased  him  to  see  it  there.  From  the  photo- 
graph his  eyes  went  to  her  face  and  rested  there, 
smiling  and  confident.  She  stood  facing  the  light, 
looking  shy  and  a  little  overcome  at  seeing  him. 
Although  she  had  been  expecting  him  she  felt 
oddly  unprepared.  Everything  seemed  to  have 
changed  with  his  appearance.  He  loomed  large 
and  substantial  in  the  forefront  of  her  thoughts, 
a  person  to  be  reckoned  with,  no  longer  the  vague 
figure  which  had  hovered  indistinctly  amid  the 
confusion  of  her  mind.  Deliberately  she  moved 
to  the  sofa  and  sat  down,  and  the  dog  came  and 


The  Stronger  Influence  249 

lay  at  her  feet.  Sinclair  seated  himself  beside 
her  and  played  with  the  dog's  ears. 

"  I've  a  feeling,"  he  said,  without  looking  at 
her,  "  that  all  this  is  unreal.  It's  been  a  sort  of 
make-believe  with  me  that  I  was  with  you  over 
there.  I've  talked  with  you,  told  you  things  in 
dumb  show,  often.  I've  pretended  that  you  were 
present  and  could  hear  and  respond.  Now  I'm 
half  afraid  to  look  at  you  for  fear  you'll  vanish. 
Absurd,  isn't  it  ?  " 

"  Poor  dear  !  "  she  said,  and  touched  his  hand 
gently.  He  looked  up  then  and  smiled  at 
her. 

'  You  know  you  haven't  altered  a  bit  since 
the  days  when  we  began  our  friendship  amid  the 
heights." 

"  Ah  !  "  she  said,  and  the  light  in  her  eyes 
faded.  "  I  feel  as  though  I  had  no  connection 
with  that  girl  at  all.  It's  not  only  the  years 
which  alter  us,  George.  You've  been  through 
experiences ;  they've  changed  you.  Both  of  us 
look  on  life  more  seriously  now.  We  were  boy 
and  girl  in  those  old  days  of  which  you  speak.  I 
don't  care  to  look  back." 

"  I  don't  wish  you  to  look  back,"  he  said  ;  "I 
want  you  to  look  forward — with  me.  Esme, 
you  know  what  my  hope  is  ?  I've  besieged  you 
for  years.  Can't  you  give  me  a  different  answer, 
dear  ?  I've  waited  so  long.  It  seems  to  me  we 


250  The  Stronger  Influence 

are  both  of  us  rather  lonely  people.     Why  won't 
you  end  all  that,  and  make  me  happy  ?  " 

Again  she  put  out  a  hand,  and  this  time  she 
slipped  it  into  his.  He  sat  holding  it,  waiting  in 
an  attitude  of  strained  alertness  for  her  answer. 

"It  is  because  I  like  you  so  well,"  she  said, 
"  that  I  am  reluctant  to  marry  you.  I  can't 
give  you  a  fair  return.  My  dear,  I've  loved.  .  .  . 
There  never  could  be  any  one  else  in  my  life— 
not  in  the  same  way." 

For  a  moment  he  remained  silent.  He  still 
held  her  hand ;  but  he  was  not  looking  at  her ; 
he  stared  thoughtfully  down  at  the  carpet  reflect- 
ing on  what  she  had  said.  Then  abruptly  he 
released  her  hand  and  sat  up. 

"  I'll  take  what  you'll  give,"  he  said  resolutely. 

She  made  no  answer.  She  could  not  speak 
just  then  for  the  emotion  which  gripped  her. 
There  were  tears  in  her  eyes.  He  leaned  over 
her  and  very  tenderly  kissed  the  tears  away. 


The  Stronger  Influence  XXIX 

IT  surprised  no  one,  and  gave  considerable 
satisfaction  to  her  relations,  when  Esme, 
quite  soon  after  Sinclair's  return  to  South  Africa, 
was  married  to  the  man  who  had  been  her  faith- 
ful lover  for  over  eight  years. 

On  the  evening  before  her  marriage  she  dis- 
cussed the  matter  and  her  feelings  quite  frankly 
with  Rose. 

"  I'm  not  hi  love  with  George,"  she  said,  regard- 
ing her  sister  earnestly  ;  "  and  I'm  not  marrying 
him  out  of  pity.  I  think  chiefly  it  was  a  phrase 
he  used  which  got  me  :  '  We  are  both  of  us  rather 
lonely  people.'  .  .  .  That  was  how  he  put  it. 
And  suddenly  while  he  spoke  a  picture  of  the 
lonely  years  ahead  for  us  flashed  across  my 
imagination.  It's  true,  you  know  ;  we  are  lonely  ; 
and  we  are  both  still  young." 

"  Yes,"  Rose  agreed.  "I'm  glad  you  see  it 
like  that.  I've  hated  to  think  of  you  alone 
always." 

"  It's  a  little  selfish,  and  altogether  futile,  to  live 
wholly  in  the  past,"  Esme  resumed  after  a  pause. 

251 


252  The  Stronger  Influence 

"  My  love  for  Paul  is  a  sacred  memory ;  but  it 
should  not  prevent  me  from  making  George 
happy.  He  is  satisfied  to  take  the  risk." 

"  George  is  a  wise  man,"  Rose  responded  ;  "  he 
doesn't  underrate  his  power  to  win  your  love. 
You'll  grow  very  fond  of  him,  Esme  ;  he  is  a 
lovable  fellow." 

"  I  am  fond  of  him,"  Esme  answered.  "  Do 
you  suppose  I  would  marry  him  otherwise  ?  I 
am  bidding  good-bye  to  the  old  life  to-night,  my 
dear  ;  I  am  not  dragging  it  with  me  into  the  life 
which  begins  to-morrow.  I  feel  as  though  I  were 
beginning  all  over  again.  It's  a  big  break,  you 
know." 

"  I  know." 

Rose's  gaze  travelled  round  the  comfortable, 
home-like  room,  which  from  to-morrow  would  be 
deserted,  and  would  ultimately  pass  to  strangers. 
Henceforward  Esme  would  live  in  Uitenhage, 
where  George's  work  was.  He  had  furnished  a 
house  for  her,  and  bought  a  car.  The  sight  of 
the  car,  which  he  purposed  learning  to  drive,  had 
reconciled  John  to  his  aunt's  second  marriage. 
John's  mother,  while  she  gazed  about  her,  was 
thinking  of  many  things,  other  than  motors,  which 
might  change  and  brighten  her  sister's  life.  There 
was  the  possibility  of  children.  Esme  had  always 
desired  children.  A  baby's  tiny  hands  would 
speedily  heal  old  wounds ;  the  feel  of  baby  lips 


The  Stronger  Influence  253 

would  stifle  all  regrets.  In  Rose's  opinion  this 
marriage  was  altogether  desirable  ;  it  closed  the 
past  completely.  In  a  sense  it  seemed  to  her 
that  her  sister's  life  was  only  now  beginning.  The 
curtain  had  rung  down  on  the  prologue,  and  was 
about  to  rise  for  the  first  act  of  the  actual  drama. 
The  Sinclairs  spent  two  weeks  in  Natal  after 
the  wedding.  It  was  Esme's  idea  to  go  to  Durban 
for  the  brief  holiday,  which  was  all  the  leave 
George  could  obtain.  Sinclair  himself  had  no 
preference  ;  any  place,  so  long  as  he  had  Esme 
with  him,  would  have  seemed  Eden  to  him.  He 
was  extravagantly  happy.  The  wish  of  his  heart 
was  realized.  The  intervening  years  of  bitterness 
and  regret  and  jealousy  were  forgotten  in  the 
supreme  satisfaction  of  possession.  The  woman 
whom  he  had  married  was  his  girl  sweetheart,  to 
whom  he  had  remained  faithful  through  long 
years  of  disappointment  and  hopeless  longing. 
There  had  never  been,  never  could  have  been, 
any  one  else  for  him.  Now  that  she  was  his  wife, 
he  set  himself  to  the  task  of  teaching  her  to  for- 
get the  man  whose  influence,  dead  even  as  when 
he  had  been  alive,  interposed  between  them.  He 
was  determined  to  win  her  love,  all  her  love ; 
the  strength  of  his  steadfast  devotion  insisted  on 
a  like  response.  She  was  very  sweet  to  him, 
very  gracious  and  kind  in  manner :  time,  he 
believed,  would  give  him  his  desire.  He  must 


254  The  Stronger  Influence 

have  patience,  be  content  to  wait.  He  had  waited 
so  long  to  win  her  that  this  further  waiting 
appeared  a  small  matter  compared  with  what 
he  had  endured.  With  her  beside  him  everything 
seemed  possible,  and  life  was  a  succession  of  glad 
and  perfect  days. 

They  spent  an  ideal  fortnight  together.  Neither 
referred  to  it  as  a  honeymoon  :  it  was  just  a 
holiday,  a  pleasant  period  of  sight-seeing  and 
excursions,  of  bathing  and  dancing  and  strolling 
together  in  the  moonlight.  Unconsciously  they 
recovered  something  of  the  youth  they  had  been 
allowing  to  slip  past  them  unheeded,  and  realized 
with  a  sort  of  surprise  the  leaven  of  frivolity 
hidden  beneath  their  more  serious  qualities. 

If  Esme  did  not  find  the  same  deep  happiness 
which  she  had  known  in  her  life  with  Paul  Hallam, 
she  was  at  least  care  free.  George  was  a  normal 
healthy-minded  man,  popular  with  his  fellows, 
and  possessed  of  keen  powers  of  appreciation 
and  enjoyment ;  and  he  succeeded,  in  rousing  her 
to  a  new  interest  in  things.  His  devotion  touched 
her  deeply.  She  began  to  realize  that  without 
being  passionately  in  love,  it  was  possible  to  love 
tenderly.  Her  life  with  George  promised  to  be 
a  satisfying  and  peaceful  one.  She  resolved  that 
as  far  as  it  lay  in  her  power  she  would  make  him 
happy. 

Life  is  all  a  matter  of  adaptability.     Given 


The  Stronger  Influence  255 

the  qualities  of  kindness  and  a  tolerant  disposition, 
it  is  not  difficult  to  be  happy  and  to  give  happi- 
ness. In  the  case  of  large-hearted  people  love 
develops  naturally  ;  and  Esme  and  George  had 
known  one  another  a  long  time  and  intimately  ; 
they  were  good  comrades  when  they  married ; 
no  feeling  of  strangeness  or  shyness  marred  the 
ease  of  their  intercourse.  Even  when  they  re- 
turned and  took  up  their  residence  in  their  new 
home  it  was  all  pleasantly  familiar.  They  had 
chosen  the  house  together,  furnished  it  according 
to  their  mutual  tastes  :  there  was  not  a  corner  of 
the  place,  or  a  thing  in  it,  they  had  not  inspected 
together,  discussed,  disputed  over,  and  finally 
come  to  agreement  about. 

And  Regret  was  there  to  welcome  them,  the 
faithful  watch-dog  which  had  been  Esme's  constant 
companion  since  the  day  when,  as  a  puppy,  John 
had  placed  it  in  her  arms.  She  stooped  down 
to  pat  the  dog,  which  bounded  out  of  the  house 
and  down  the  steps  to  meet  her,  jumping  up  and 
licking  her  hand. 

"He's  a  bit  overwhelming  in  his  attentions," 
George  remarked. 

He  despatched  the  coloured  boy,  who  stood 
grinning  on  the  stoep,  to  assist  with  the  baggage, 
and  put  a  hand  in  Esme's  arm  and  drew  her 
into  the  house.  Everywhere  there  were  flowers ; 
masses  of  roses  in  bowls,  and  long  sprays  in  taller 


256  The  Stronger  Influence 

vases  of  the  crimson  passion-flower.  Esme  stood 
still  and  looked  about  her  with  pleased  eyes. 

"  Rose  has  been  busy  here,"  she  said.  "  It 
looks  lovely,  doesn't  it  ?  George,  it's  a  dear 
little  house ;  and  the  garden  is  wonderful." 

She  stood  by  the  window,  looking  out  on  the  cool 
green  of  grass,  on  the  blaze  of  colour  from  the 
flower  borders,  on  neatly  gravelled  paths.  Here, 
too,  there  were  roses  ;  the  green  of  the  lawn  was 
patterned  gaily  with  their  petals  which  the  soft, 
warm  wind  had  scattered  wide  and  blown  into 
little  heaps  and  again  distributed  these  in  a 
pleasing  blending  of  colour  ;  the  path  was  covered 
with  them,  sweet-scented,  and  newly  scattered 
by  the  breeze. 

"  It  looks  festive,"  she  remarked. 

"  It  looks  as  if  the  boy  had  better  get  to  work 
with  a  broom,"  George  replied. 

"  Prosaic  person  !  "  she  said,  laughing.  And 
added :  "  Let  them  stay.  It's  a  sweet  dis- 
order, anyhow." 

He  stooped  to  kiss  her. 

"  You  are  a  sweet  woman,"  he  said,  and  put 
his  arm  about  her,  and  stood  looking  with  her 
out  upon  the  small  but  pretty  garden  of  their 
home. 

Pride  of  ownership  filled  the  man's  brain, 
flooded  his  heart  with  genial  warmth,  even  as 
the  sunlight  which  flooded  the  garden  and  shone 


The  Stronger  Influence  257 

hotly  on  the  gaily  coloured  flowers  in  the  borders. 
He  felt  that  life  had  nothing  more  to  offer  him  ; 
his  cup  of  happiness  was  full  to  the  brim. 

But  to  the  woman,  looking  out  on  the  sunlight 
with  him,  such  complete  satisfaction  was  not 
possible.  She  was  content.  But  the  sun  of 
her  happiness  had  passed  its  zenith  and  was  on 
the  decline. 

Together  they  went  through  the  house  on  a 
tour  of  inspection,  while  lunch  was  preparing. 
Each  room  called  for  comment  and  fresh  expres- 
sions of  delight.  They  came  to  their  bedroom 
last.  George  sat  on  the  side  of  the  bed  while 
Esme  removed  her  hat  and  gave  little  touches 
and  pats  to  her  hair,  standing  before  the  mirror 
and  surveying  her  appearance  critically.  She 
discovered  a  tiny  powder  puff  and  dabbed  her 
face  with  it.  These  mysteries  of  the  toilet 
interested  George  profoundly.  He  disapproved 
of  the  puff. 

"  I  can't  understand  why  you  do  that/'  he 
said.  ''Your  skin's  all  right." 

"  We  do  a  lot  of  incomprehensible  things,"  she 
returned,  laughing  at  him.  "  Men  shave,  for 
instance,  though  nature  intended  them  to  wear 
hair  on  the  face." 

1  That's  one  up  to  you,  old  dear,"  he  said,  and 
got  up  and  seized  her  by  the  shoulders  and  kissed 
her.  "  It's  rather  jolly  to  be  in  our  own  home. 

17 


258  The  Stronger  Influence 

It  was  nice  being  away  together  ;  but  this  .  .  . 
Esme,  I  feel  extraordinarily  happy.  It  seems  too 
good  to  be  true,  too  good  to  last.  It's  great." 

"  Silly  old  duffer  !  "  she  said,  smiling  back  into 
his  eager  eyes.  "Why  should  the  good  things 
be  less  enduring  than  the  evil?  ' 

"Put  like  that,  I  don't  see  why  they  should 
be,"  he  responded.  "  Wise  little  woman !  we 
will  make  our  good  time  last  for  all  our  lives." 


The  Stronger  Influence  XXX 

TIME  passed,  and  the  Sinclair  menage 
increased  its  numbers  by  one.  A  baby 
girl  was  born  to  Esme,  and  was  christened, 
despite  its  father's  protests,  Georgina. 

The  baby  ruled  the  household,  and  tyrannized 
over  its  parents,  and  made  slaves  of  its  god- 
parents, who  were  amazingly  interested  in  this 
small  cousin  of  theirs.  Mary,  a  pretty  girl  of 
nineteen,  with  all  her  sex's  partiality  for  babies, 
worshipped  at  the  shrine  of  the  new  arrival; 
John,  with  masculine  mistrust  of  humanity  in 
miniature,  regarded  the  infant  doubtfully,  until, 
with  its  further  development,  it  captivated  him 
with  its  smile.  From  the  moment  when  the 
baby  first  smiled  at  him,  John  lost  his  awe  of  it. 
He  found  it  infinitely  more  amusing  than  any 
puppy.  He  carried  it  about  the  garden,  bundled 
under  one  arm  like  a  parcel,  to  its  intense  gratifi- 
cation. It  was  a  good-tempered  mite,  and  seldom 
cried. 

The  coming  of  her  baby  brought  complete 
happiness  to  Esme.  It  entirely  changed  the 

259 


260  The  Stronger  Influence 

current  of  her  thoughts,  and  drew  her  closer  in 
love  and  sympathy  to  George,  cementing  their 
union  with  the  strongest  bond  which  married  life 
can  forge.  Her  love  for  George,  as  the  father 
of  her  child,  became  a  fine  and  tender  emotion. 
She  loved  him  in  relation  to  the  child.  The  great 
desire  of  her  life  was  granted.  She  had  her  baby  : 
life  could  give  her  no  greater  happiness. 

Sinclair  took  very  kindly  to  the  parental  role. 
Young  things  appealed  to  him ;  and  he  was 
immensely  proud  of  his  daughter,  whose  coming 
had  completed  the  home  circle,  had  indeed  filled 
the  home  and  banished  for  ever  the  quiet  of  former 
days.  He  never  tired  of  watching  Esme*  with  the 
child.  She  suggested  the  incarnate  picture  of 
motherhood,  with  the  brooding  look  of  love  and 
contentment  in  her  eyes. 

The  gap  was  rilled ;  and  the  old  life  with  Paul 
slipped  further  into  the  background  of  her  thoughts. 

And  in  England  a  man,  newly  released  from  a 
German  prison  camp,  ill,  half-starved,  with  nerves 
racked  and  shaken,  a  physical  wreck,  was  think- 
ing of  his  wife  in  Africa,  and  wondering  how  life 
had  gone  with  her  in  the  years  since  he  had  left 
her  because  he  had  felt  himself  to  be  unfit  to 
breathe  the  same  air  with  her. 

Had  she  grieved  for  him,  he  wondered  ?  Or 
had  she  felt  contempt  for  his  weakness,  blamed 
him  for  a  coward,  for  leaving  her  secretly  like  a 


The  Stronger  Influence  261 

criminal  ?  The  years  since  he  had  left  his  home 
were  so  many  that  it  was  more  than  possible 
she  believed  him  to  be  dead.  Several  times 
since  he  was  made  a  prisoner,  during  the  early 
days  of  war,  he  had  written  to  her  ;  but,  receiving 
no  replies  to  his  communications,  he  concluded 
that  these,  for  some  obscure  reason  of  his  captors, 
were  never  sent.  Many  men,  like  himself,  had 
been  similarly  cut  off  from  all  communication 
with  their  friends.  He  had  considered  the  ques- 
tion of  writing  after  his  release;  but  decided 
against  it ;  he  would  wait  until  he  saw  her.  His 
return  would  prove  a  shock  in  any  case.  He  pre- 
ferred to  reserve  explanations  until  he  could  offer 
them  in  person  and  comfort  her  for  the  sorrow 
of  their  years  of  separation. 

Not  once  did  it  ever  enter  Paul  Hallam's 
thoughts  that  his  wife,  even  though  she  might 
believe  him  to  be  dead — which  he  considered 
likely — would  have  married  again.  It  simply  did 
not  occur  to  him. 

For  some  months  he  remained  in  a  convales- 
cent home  in  England,  recovering  slowly  from 
the  privations  of  prison  life  in  Germany  :  for  a 
further  period  he  waited  for  the  purpose  of  proving 
for  his  own  satisfaction  that,  with  every  facility 
to  indulge  his  former  vice,  the  desire  no  longer 
tormented  him.  Then,  in  a  mood  of  deep  thank- 
fulness, with  a  heart  surcharged  with  love,  and 


262  The  Stronger  Influence 

with  an  intense  longing  for  Esme  exciting  his 
imagination,  he  sailed  for  Cape  Town  in  the  first 
available  ship. 

Strangely,  at  the  time  of  Hallam's  sailing  and 
during  the  weeks  the  voyage  occupied,  Esme  was 
troubled  with  dreams  of  him.  Night  after  night 
she  woke  trembling  in  the  darkness,  with  the 
vision,  which  sleep  had  brought  to  her  lingering 
in  her  imagination,  of  Paul  standing  before  her 
and  gazing  at  her  and  turning  away  from  her. 
Always  the  dream  was  the  same.  Suddenly  the 
vision  would  appear ;  his  eyes  would  gaze  into 
her  eyes,  then  abruptly  he  would  turn  about ; 
and  she  would  wake  to  darkness,  to  the  stillness 
of  the  night,  and  to  her  own  nervous  fears.  Why 
should  the  dream  haunt  her  now,  when  she  was 
learning  to  forget  ?  .  .  . 

And  Hallam,  on  board  the  ship  which  steered 
its  difficult  course  slowly  to  avoid  the  danger  of 
floating  mines,  looked  across  the  blue  waste  of 
waters  with  the  image  of  his  wife's  face  ever  before 
him,  and  the  thought  of  her  in  his  mind  during 
every  wakeful  hour.  He,  too,  awoke  in  the 
night,  thinking  of  her,  and  lay  awake  in  the  dark- 
ness to  the  sound  of  the  swish  of  the  waves, 
picturing  his  return  and  the  wonderful  gladness  he 
anticipated  as  shining  in  her  eyes  at  sight  of  him. 
All  the  distress  and  horror  of  the  past  would  be 
wiped  out  and  forgotten  in  the  happiness  of  their 


The  Stronger  Influence  263 

reunion.  He  would  never  again  give  her  cause 
for  a  moment's  anxiety.  He  would  fill  her  life 
with  love  ;  there  should  be  nothing  to  give  her 
sorrow  any  more. 

Slowly  the  blue  distance  which  separated  them 
narrowed,  narrowed  until  the  land  came  within 
sight,  mistily,  like  a  cloud  against  the  deep  azure 
of  the  sky,  a  cloud  which  resolved  itself  into  a 
square  mass  of  rock,  blue-grey  in  the  sunlight 
which  shone  upon  the  city  at  the  base  of  the 
mountain,  shone  upon  the  sea,  lit  everything  with 
a  blaze  of  golden  light.  The  ship  glided  past  the 
breakwater  into  dock. 

Hallam  was  among  the  first  to  go  ashore. 
Before  sailing  he  had  cabled  to  his  solicitor  to 
inform  him  that  he  was  coming  out.  He  drove 
now  direct  to  the  lawyer's  office.  He  wanted  news 
of  his  wife  before  seeing  her,  wanted  to  glean 
some  idea  as  to  what  his  long  absence  and  un- 
accountable silence  was  attributed  to  ;  whether 
Esme  and  others  supposed  him  to  be  dead  ;  in 
which  event  it  might  be  inadvisable  to  appear 
before  her  suddenly  and  without  any  preparation. 

The  reception  which  he  received  from  his  man 
of  business  and  one-time  friend  surprised  him. 
Mr.  Huntley,  of  the  firm  of  Huntley  and  Thorne, 
was  manifestly  embarrassed  by  the  sight  of  his 
former  client,  whom  he  interviewed  in  his  private 
office,  after  issuing  the  strictest  orders  against 


264  The  Stronger  Influence 

interruption.  His  obvious  nervousness,  and  the 
absence  of  any  sign  of  welcome  in  his  manner, 
impressed  Hallam  oddly.  Had  the  man  been 
guilty  of  embezzling  trust  money,  which  Hallam 
knew  him  to  be  incapable  of,  he  could  not  have 
betrayed  greater  dismay  at  the  meeting. 

"  This  is  immensely  surprising,  Hallam,"  he 
said.  "  I  have  not  yet  recovered  from  the  amaze- 
ment which  the  receipt  of  your  cablegram  caused 
me.  You  see,  I — we  all  concluded  you  were  dead. 
The  mistake  was  perfectly  natural." 

"  I  grant  that,"  Hallam  answered,  considerably 
mystified  and  a  little  annoyed  by  the  other's 
manner.  "  At  the  same  time  I  don't  see  why  it 
should  be  regarded  in  the  light  of  a  misfortune 
that  I  am  not  dead." 

"  My  dear  fellow !  Certainly  not.  But  you 
must  allow  for  a  certain — astonishment.  I  might 
even  put  it  more  strongly.  Your  return  after  so 
long  a  period  calls  for  such  an  abrupt  readjust- 
ment. There  have  been  changes.  I  don't  see 
how  you  can  expect  otherwise.  I've  sat  in  this 
chair  day  after  day  since  receiving  your  cable 
trying  to  resolve  some  way  out  of  the  muddle.  I 
haven 't  communicated  with — with  your  wife.  You 
didn't  instruct  us,  so  I've  done  nothing." 

"  Quite  right,"  Hallam  said.  "I  prefer  to  see 
her  myself." 

"  You  haven't  written  ?  " 


The  Stronger  Influence  265 

"  No.     I  am  going  home  when  I  leave  here." 

"  But  Mrs.  Hallam  has  left  Cape  Town.  She 
gave  up  the  house  and  went  round  to  Port  Eliza- 
beth and  took  a  house  there.  Since  then  she — 
she  has  given  up  that  house  also,  I  believe.  In 
fact  I  know  she  has.  We  manage  her  affairs  for 
her." 

Hallam  nodded. 

"  I  see  nothing  very  extraordinary  in  these 
changes,"  he  said.  "  It  was  not  to  be  expected 
that  she  should  remain  in  Cape  Town  alone.  She 
has  relations  at  the  Bay." 

Mr.  Huntley  was  silent.  He  took  up  from  the 
desk  before  him,  and  put  down  again,  a  little 
sheaf  of  papers,  and  fidgeted  with  a  pen  lying 
beside  the  blotting-pad.  He  looked  as  he  felt, 
immensely  embarrassed. 

"  My  dear  Hallam,"  he  burst  forth  at  length, 
"  I  don't  wish  to  appear  to  criticize  your  actions, 
but  your  absence — your  complete  disappearance, 
in  fact,  seems  to  me  inexplicable.  That  is  how  it 
would  strike  any  unbiassed  person.  Whatever 
your  private  reasons  were  for  leaving  your  home, 
you  might  at  least  have  kept  us  informed  as  to 
your  whereabouts.  It  would  have  prevented  a 
great  deal  of  subsequent  distress." 

Hallam  looked  at  the  speaker  in  surprise.  The 
last  thing  he  had  anticipated  was  this  tone  of 
rebuke  from  his  old  friend.  That  Huntley  should 


z66  The  Stronger  Influence 

suppose  he  had  deliberately  suppressed  all  infor- 
mation relating  to  himself  struck  him  as  an  unjust 
view  to  take ;  he  resented  it. 

"  I  have  been  a  prisoner  in  Germany  since  the 
beginning  of  the  war,"  he  said  quietly.  "  I 
wrote  home  many  letters  in  the  early  days  of  my 
captivity.  I  wrote  to  you.  Oh  !  there's  no  need 
to  tell  me  you  never  received  it.  I  got  no  replies 
to  anything  I  sent  out ;  so  I  left  off  writing  after 
a  time.  My  case  was  not  exceptional." 

Huntley  leaned  with  his  arm  along  the  desk  and 
looked  earnestly  into  Hallam 's  eyes :  his  own 
eyes  expressed  an  immense  sympathy. 

"  Good  God,  Hallam  !  "  he  said. 

Suddenly  he  grasped  Hallam 's  hand  and  wrung 
it  hard. 

"  I  don't  know  how  to  tell  you,"  he  added. 
"  But  the  thing  has  got  to  be  faced.  Your  body 
was  found,  and  identified  by  your  brother-in- 
law.  You've  been  dead  these  many  years.  And 
your  wife " 

"  Yes  ?  "  Hallam  said,  hi  a  tone  of  deadly  quiet. 

"Your  wife  married  again,  and  is  living  in 
Uitenhage." 


The  Stronger  Influence  XXXI 

HALL  AM  recoiled  from  the  news  of  Esme's 
marriage  as  a  man  might  recoil  from  the 
effects  of  a  blow.  The  thing  staggered  him.  His 
first  thought  was  to  disappear  again,  to  walk  away 
from  Huntley 's  office,  and  turn  his  back  for  ever  on 
the  country  which  was  home  to  him  no  longer  and 
held  no  place  for  him.  He  felt  dazed  with  grief  and 
anger.  The  thought  of  Esme  as  the  wife  of  another 
man  was  intolerable.  He  could  not  reconcile  it 
with  his  knowledge  of  her  that  she  should  seek 
consolation  elsewhere.  It  was  like  some  hideous 
nightmare,  some  terrible  hoax,  that  was  being 
practised  on  him  for  the  purpose  of  torturing  him. 
He  could  not  determine  how  to  act  in  the  cir- 
cumstances ;  he  could  not  think  ;  his  mind  was 
blank  with  despair.  And  then  jealousy  awoke ; 
his  thoughts  gained  stimulus,  and  worked  in  a 
new  direction  along  lines  that  were  fiercely  personal 
and  possessive  in  outlook.  After  all,  she  was  his 
wife.  This  man  had  no  claim  on  her ;  she  belonged 
to  him.  He  was  not  going  to  allow  any  one  to 
hold  what  was  lawfully  his. 

267 


268  The  Stronger  Influence 

This  sense  of  urgency  to  resume  possession 
spurred  him  to  a  fever  of  aggressive  activity,  in 
which  mood,  and  with  the  settled  purpose  of 
interviewing  his  brother-in-law,  he  went  round  to 
Port  Elizabeth,  and  called  on  Jim  Bainbridge  at 
the  latter's  place  of  business  as  soon  as  he 
arrived. 

To  say  that  Jim  Bainbridge  was  amazed  at 
the  sight  of  him,  were  to  express  his  emotions  as 
inadequately  as  it  would  be  to  describe  a  violent 
explosion  as  disquieting  to  the  unfortunate  persons 
within  the  affected  area :  the  effect  on  him  was 
rather  similar  to  the  effects  of  an  explosion  ;  he 
was  literally  bowled  over  on  beholding  a  dead  man 
returned  to  the  world  of  the  living.  Had  he  been 
given  to  the  cult  of  the  supernatural  he  would 
have  imagined  that  he  saw  Paul  Hallam's  ghost, 
when  Hallam  walked  into  his  office.  But  he  did 
not  believe  in  ghosts  ;  and  there  was  something 
uncomfortably  lifelike  in  the  hostile  gleam  of 
Hallam's  eyes,  as  he  turned  from  shutting  the 
door  and  regarded  the  man  seated  in  his  swivel- 
chair,  with  jaw  dropped,  and  with  protruding  eyes 
which  stared  back  at  him  stupidly. 

"  Oh  hell !  "  muttered  Jim  Bainbridge,  and 
collapsed  in  his  seat  in  a  crumpled  heap. 

Hallam  advanced  deliberately,  and  seated  him- 
self opposite  his  dumbfounded  brother-in-law. 

"I  knew  I  was  bound  to  give  you  an  unpleasant 


The  Stronger  Influence  269 

surprise,"  he  said,  "  so  I  didn't  make  an  appoint- 
ment. I've  come  for  news  of  my  wife." 

Bainbridge's  jaw  dropped  lower  in  his  increasing 
consternation.  The  man's  florid  countenance  had 
turned  the  colour  of  putty. 

"  Your— Oh  lord  !  " 

The  words  gurgled  in  his  throat.  He  gripped 
the  arms  of  his  chair  and  attempted  to  sit  up 
straighter  and  to  get  control  of  himself.  Com- 
pared with  his  nervous  collapse  the  calm  of 
Hallam's  demeanour  was  remarkable. 

"  Look  here,"  he  muttered,  fumbling  for  words, 
his  bewildered  gaze  fixed  upon  the  other's  face. 
"  Don't  you  try  to  rush  things.  I've  got  to  get 
used  to  this  idea.  I'm  all  abroad.  When  a  man 
has  been  missing  for  years  one  doesn't  expect  to 
see  him  walk  in  as  if  he  had  been  away  on  a  holi- 
day. What  in  hell  do  you  mean  by  turning  up 
here  after  all  this  time  ?  Where  Ve  you  been  ? 
Man,  you  were  found — dead — and  buried.  There's 
a  stone  erected  to  your  memory  out  on  the  veld 
beyond  Bulawayo.  You've  no  right  to  disappear 
and  turn  up  again  after  six  years.  It's  indecent." 

"It's  awkward,  I  admit,"  Hallam  returned 
grimly,  and  regarded  the  other  sternly  with  the 
angry  light  of  accusation  in  his  keen  eyes.  "  I 
want  an  explanation  of  your  reasons  for  swearing 
falsely  to  my  identity.  You  buried  another  man 
under  my  name — why  ?  " 


270  'The  Stronger  Influence 

"  Paul,  I  swear  I  thought  it  was  you — believe 
me,  or  not,  as  you  will."  Suddenly  Bainbridge 
turned  with  quick  suspicion  in  his  look,  and 
smote  the  arm  of  his  chair  fiercely.  '  You  put 
that  trick  on  us — to  deceive  us.  Why  was  that 
man  dressed  in  your  clothes,  and  carrying  your 
papers  ?  Poor  devil !  there  wasn't  anything  else 
left  of  him  that  one  could  swear  to." 

"  I  see.  No,"  Hallam  shook  his  head  ;  "  you 
are  on  the  wrong  track.  I  owe  my  life  to  the  man 
you  buried — I  don't  know  his  name.  I  don't 
know  how  he  came  by  his  death.  I  know  nothing 
about  him  ;  save  that  he  came  to  my  aid  when  I 
was  past  aiding  myself.  Then  he  left  me  to  the 
care  of  natives,  and  robbed  me  ;  left  me  with  his 
old  clothes,  and  nothing  of  my  own  but  my  boots, 
which,  presumedly,  didn't  fit  him.  Oddly,  he 
didn't  discover  that  the  boots  had  double  soles 
and  were  lined  with  notes.  He  stole  all  the  money 
I  had  on  me,  which  was  considerable,  and  which 
possibly  cost  him  his  life.  He  did  me  good  service ; 
though  through  his  death  he  injured  me  more  than 
he  could  have  done  had  he  murdered  me.  It's 
a  grim  mistake ;  and  it's  going  to  lead  to  grim 
consequences." 

Bainbridge  stared  hard  at  the  speaker. 

"  The  muddle  is  of  your  own  making,"  he  said 
sullenly.  "  Why  did  you  never  send  a  line  ? 
Esme  fretted  her  heart  out  for  news  of  you." 


The  Stronger  Influence  271 

"  She  soon  recovered  from  her  distress,"  Hallam 
replied. 

"  You've  heard ?  "  Bainbridge  broke  off  in 

his  question  abruptly. 

"  That  she  married  Sinclair — yes.  That  is  what 
I  have  come  to  talk  over  with  you." 

"  Well,  look  here  !  "  Jim  Bainbridge  leaned  his 
head  on  his  hand  and  thought  hard.  '  Why  didn't 
you  send  a  line  ?  "  he  repeated  in  tones  of  exasper- 
ation. "  Man,  don't  you  see  how  a  word  from  you 
would  have  saved  the  situation  ?  It's  your  own 
fault,  Paul.  You've  brought  this  on  yourself." 

"  I  acknowledge  the  justice  of  that.  I  might 
have  written — in  the  early  days.  But,  for  reasons 
which  Esme  alone  could  appreciate,  I  refrained 
from  writing  then.  Later  communication  became 
impossible.  I  went  to  England  and  joined  up. 
I  didn't  mean  to  join  up.  But  if  you'd  been  on 
the  spot  you'd  understand  the  pressing  urgency  that 
impelled  a  man  to  go.  I  was  among  the  first  batch 
of  prisoners  taken  by  the  Germans.  It's  a  long  story 
anyhow.  I'll  tell  it  to  her.  She  will  understand." 

But  that  was  exactly  what  Jim  Bainbridge 
intended  to  dissuade  him  from  doing.  The  moral 
rights  of  the  case  were  too  subtle  for  him  to  grasp  ; 
but  he  appreciated  fully  the  insuperable  difficul- 
ties of  a  readjustment  under  existing  conditions. 
The  lives  of  three  people  would  be  upset  and  the 
happiness  of  none  secured.  The  only  way  to 


272  The  Stronger  Influence 

avoid  further  muddle  was  to  allow  the  present 
muddle  to  go  on.  That  was  how  he  saw  it ;  and 
he  hoped  to  persuade  Hallam  into  taking  his  view. 

"  Do  many  people  know  of  your  return  ?  "  he 
asked. 

Hallam  looked  surprised. 

"  Only  Huntley  and  yourself." 

"  In  your  place,  I  should  clear  out,"  Bainbridge 
advised.  "  Why  not  leave  the  country  altogether, 
Paul?  I'll  keep  my  mouth  shut." 

As  the  drift  of  his  meaning  dawned  on  him, 
Hallam's  face  hardened ;  the  grey  eyes  shone 
steel-like.  Jim  Bainbridge,  observing  him  closely, 
realized  that  the  task  he  had  set  himself  would 
prove  no  easy  matter ;  but  he  braced  himself  to 
fight  for  the  peace  of  mind  of  the  woman  whose 
happiness  hung  in  the  balance. 

"  You  know,"  he  added,  after  a  brief  moment 
for  reflection,  "  your  long  absence,  your  silence, 
amount  pretty  near  to  desertion.  I  don't  know 
much  about  the  blooming  divorce  laws  in  this 
country  ;  but  I  fancy  if  we  stretched  our  imagina- 
tions a  bit  we  could  make  out  a  good  case.  Clear 
out,  Paul.  Make  it  a  case  of  desertion  proper. 
It's  the  only  decent  course  to  take.  You  don't 
want  to  injure  Esme  further.  Leave  her  alone." 

"And  condone  a  bigamy — in  which  my  own 
wife  is  concerned  !  She  is  my  wife.  I  will  agree 
to  a  divorce  only  if  she  wishes  it." 


The  Stronger  Influence  273 

"  Man,  can't  you  see  the  unnecessary  cruelty 
of  letting  her  know  you're  alive  ?  She's  got  used 
to  thinking  of  you  as  dead.  She's  happy." 
Bainbridge  leaned  nearer  to  him  and  threw  out  a 
protesting  hand.  "It's  hard  on  you.  I  admit 
it's  hard  on  you — damned  hard.  But — hang  it 
all ! — you  created  the  muddle.  If  it  were  only  a 
matter  of  your  claim  against  George's,  I  wouldn't 
offer  advice ;  but  it  isn't.  It's  a  case  which 
would  baffle  Solomon  himself.  There's  a  kid — a 
baby  girl.  If  I'm  not  mistaken,  the  baby's  got  a 
stronger  claim  than  either  of  you  two  men.  Some 
women  are  like  that.  Esme  lives  for  the  child." 

He  broke  off,  heated  by  his  unusual  eloquence, 
and  uncomfortably  aware  of  the  expression  of 
black  hate  on  his  listener's  face.  Hallam  sat 
silent,  staring  straight  before  him.  The  news  of 
the  child  was  the  last  dreg  of  bitterness  in  the 
cup  which  he  was  forced  to  drain.  The  thought 
of  the  child  infuriated  him,  filled  him  with  intoler- 
able jealousy.  Esme,  his  wife, — with  a  child — 
which  was  not  his  !  The  thing  would  not  bear 
thinking  about.  And  yet  it  stuck  in  his  thoughts, 
tormented  his  thoughts,  would  not  be  dismissed 
however  much  he  strove  to  thrust  it  aside.  In 
the  moment  when  Jim  Bainbridge  let  fall  this 
bomb  Hallam 's  feeling  for  his  wife  underwent  a 
sudden  revulsion.  It  seemed  to  him  that  his  love 
died  as  surely  as  if  it  had  never  been.  It  seemed 

18 


274  the  Stronger  Influence 

to  him,  too,  though  he  knew  the  thought  to  be 
an  injustice,  that  the  wife  he  had  loved  was 
unworthy,  was  no  better  than  a  light  woman. 
She  had  consoled  herself  very  speedily.  His  years 
of  self -discipline  had  been  spent  in  vain.  He 
had  gained  a  victory  over  himself  at  a  terrible 
price — the  price  of  his  wife.  He  had  lost  the 
fruits  of  his  labour ;  even  as  a  man  who  will 
sometimes  strive,  putting  all  his  endeavour  into 
one  harvest,  to  be  ruthlessly  cheated  of  the  profit 
of  his  toil  by  some  unforeseen  calamity,  such  as 
drought  or  other  disaster.  These  things  happen  : 
it  is  the  throw  of  the  dice  of  chance. 

"  You  had  to  know,"  remarked  Jim  Bain- 
bridge  abruptly,  feeling  the  urgency  to  say  some- 
thing to  end  the  strained  silence  which  had 
followed  upon  his  disclosure,  and  busying  himself 
with  his  pipe  in  order  to  avoid  seeing  the  play  of 
bitter  emotion  which  disfigured  the  other  man's 
features.  "  Some  one  had  to  tell  you.  It  com- 
plicates matters/' 

"Yes."  Hallam  stood  up.  "I  wasn't  pre- 
pared for  this,"  he  said.  "I've  got  to  think  about 
it.  I'll  see  you  again  some  other  time.  If  you 
want  me,  I'm  staying  at  the  'Grand." 

"  Man,  I'm  sorry  about  this,"  Bainbridge  said, 
and  held  out  his  hand. 

Hallam  did  not  even  see  it.  Like  a  man  in  a 
trance  he  turned  and  walked  out  of  the  place. 


The  Stronger  Influence  XXXII 

TIM  BAINBRIDGE  whistled.  He  filled  his  pipe 
%)  and  lighted  it,  and  let  it  go  out  again.  He 
repeated  this  performance  until  he  had  exhausted 
all  the  matches  in  his  box  ;  then  he  put  the  pipe 
down  and  sat  back  in  his  seat,  with  his  thumbs 
in  his  braces,  and  cogitated. 

It  was  a  hell  of  a  mess.  No  other  phrase  de.  C  ibed 
the  situation  so  aptly.  It  was  a  hell  of  a  mess. 
He  could  not  see  how  it  was  to  be  cleaned  up 
exactly.  Why  the  devil,  instead  of  being  taken 
prisoner,  could  not  the  fellow  have  stopped  a 
bullet  ?  That  would  have  been  a  creditable 
finish.  Well,  he  hadn't.  He  was  back  again  ; 
and  it  looked  as  though  there  was  going  to  be 
the  hell  of  a  fuss. 

For  several  minutes  Jim  Bainbridge  ceased  from 
his  meditations  and  coloured  the  air  luridly  with 
the  variety  and  force  of  his  expressions  ;  then  he 
cooled  down  again,  and  fell  once  more  into  thought. 
This  thing  had  to  be  kept  from  his  wife.  The 
fewer  the  people  in  possession  of  the  uncomfortable 
facts  the  better  for  the  present.  There  was  no 

275 


276  The  Stronger  Influence 

need  to  confess  to  a  cat  in  the  bag  until  the  brute 
mewed. 

It  wasn't  his  affair  anyway. 

Suddenly  he  remembered,  with  a  distinct  dis- 
inclination to  face  Esme  in  the  circumstances,  that 
they  were  dining  at  the  Sinclairs'  that  night.  It 
was  a  memorable  occasion — the  baby's  first  birth- 
day. A  nice  sort  of  birthday  surprise  he  had  up 
his  sleeve ! 

"  Blast  the  baby  !  "  he  muttered  ;  and  immedi- 
ately felt  ashamed  of  himself.  It  was  most 
assuredly  none  of  the  baby's  fault. 

The  case,  looked  at  from  any  point,  looked  at 
all  the  way  round,  presented  no  possible  solution 
to  his  mind.  He  had  not  liked  the  look  in  Hallam's 
eyes  when  the  latter  walked  out.  He  did  not 
feel  sure  of  the  man,  of  how  he  would  act,  what  his 
purpose  was.  There  was  trouble  in  the  air  ;  the 
atmosphere  was  heavy  with  it.  He  stared  out  of 
the  window.  It  was  a  bright  sunny  day,  hot  and 
clear ;  it  ought  to  have  been  thunder  weather ; 
and  it  was  not :  the  thunder  was  all  within — in 
the  minds  of  men,  in  Hallam's  mind  in  particular. 
What  was  he  going  to  do  ?  ... 

Bainbridge  kicked  the  desk  in  front  of  him 
savagely,  and  got  up  and  put  his  coat  on.  If  he 
sat  there  any  longer  he  would  be  moved  to  do 
something  ridiculous.  He  would  go  out,  walk 
along  the  Main  Street,  and  talk  with  any  one  he 


The  Stronger  Influence  277 

chanced  to  meet.  He  must  get  a  grip  on  himself 
before  he  faced  Rose,  or  she  would  draw  the  whole 
thing  out  of  him.  And  Lord  knew  what  would 
happen  then  !  For  her  own  sake  he  wanted  to 
keep  his  wife  in  ignorance  of  this  wretched  business 
until  secrecy  was  no  longer  possible. 

'  There's  no  sense  hi  unfurling  an  umbrella 
before  the  rain  falls,"  he  soliloquized.  "  There  is 
always  a  chance  that  the  cloud  won't  burst." 

The  abstraction  of  his  manner  at  lunch  that 
day  excited  general  comment.  Rose  jumped  to 
the  conclusion  that  business  was  worrying  him, 
and  showed  immediate  concern  for  the  family 
finances  ;  and  so  exasperated  him  that  he  left  the 
house  in  a  rage  and  went  back  to  his  office  in 
an  irritable  frame  of  mind. 

"  The  old  man's  temper  is  getting  a  bit  frayed 
at  the  edges,"  John  observed,  with  filial  candour. 

"  Oh  !  daddy's  all  right,"  said  Mary,  "  if  you 
don't  take  his  little  moods  seriously.  He  is  always 
excitable  when  he  is  going  to  a  party." 

The  irritability  had  worn  off,  but  the  abstrac- 
tion deepened  when  Jim  Bainbridge  escorted  his 
family  to  the  Sinclairs'  house  that  evening.  It 
was  entirely  a  family  gathering.  Sinclair's  sister 
and  her  husband  were  present,  beside  his  wife's 
relations  ;  there  were  no  other  guests.  Jim  Bain- 
bridge,  when  he  kissed  his  sister-in-law,  had  an  odd 
feeling  that  there  was  another  uninvited  guest 


278  The  Stronger  Influence 

there,  a  hovering  presence  of  which  he  alone 
was  aware.  This  sinister,  lurking  shadow  stood 
between  Esme  and  the  man  who,  all  unconscious 
of  the  danger  which  threatened  his  happiness, 
welcomed  his  wife's  relations  with  frank  cordiality. 
Bainbridge  wrung  his  hand  hard  on  an  impulse  of 
genuine  sympathy.  He  liked  George.  It  dis- 
tressed him  to  think  of  the  blow  which  might  fall 
at  any  moment.  The  calm  happiness  of  Esme's 
face,  George's  genial  smile,  arrested  his  attention, 
played  on  his  imagination  to  an  unusual  degree. 
It  was  not  his  wont  to  notice  such  things  ;  but 
to-night  he  was  stirred  out  of  his  phlegmatic 
indifference  to  a  very  vivid  and  human  interest  in 
the  concerns  of  these  people,  whose  li ves  were  over- 
shadowed by  a  tremendous  crisis. 

The  references  to  the  baby,  the  laughing  con- 
gratulations of  the  guests,  jarred  on  his  nerves. 
He  refrained  from  any  mention  of  the  child.  And 
at  dinner,  when  Georgina's  health  was  drunk  in 
champagne,  he  alone  ignored  the  toast.  For  the 
life  of  him,  he  could  not  have  joined  in  the  farce 
of  the  general  rejoicing.  Later,  in  the  drawing- 
room,  Esme  sat  down  beside  him  and  rallied  him 
on  his  preoccupation. 

'  You  are  bored,  Jim,"  she  said.  "  I  believe 
you  are  longing  to  be  home  and  in  bed." 

"No.     But  I've  got  the  toothache,"  he  lied. 

"  Poor  old  dear  !     I'm  sorry.     Come  upstairs 


The  Stronger  Influence  279 

and  have  a  peep  at  the  babe  asleep.     She  looks 
such  a  duck  in  her  cot." 

He  followed  her  from  the  room  and  upstairs  to 
the  nursery.  There  was  a  nurse  in  charge,  but 
she  withdrew  when  they  entered,  to  Jim  Bain- 
bridge's  infinite  relief.  Esme  pulled  aside  the 
mosquito  net  and  bent  over  the  cot.  Her  eyes, 
the  man  observed,  were  soft  with  mother-love  as 
she  leaned  down  towards  the  sleeping  child.  He 
did  not  look  at  the  child  ;  he  was  intent  upon  her. 

"  Isn't  she  sweet  ?  "  she  said,  and  glanced  up 
at  him,  smiling. 

His  own  face  was  grave,  even  stern  in  expression. 
He  was  watching  her  attentively,  wondering  about 
her,  wondering  how  the  news  of  Paul's  return 
would  affect  her  when  she  knew. 

"  I  believe  you  care  more  for  that  kid  than  you 
do  for — any  one,"  he  said  gruffly.  "  If  you  could 
go  back.  ...  If  it  were  possible,  say,  to  begin 
again — with  Paul.  .  .  .  Would  you  be  willing  to 
give  up  the  kid — for  him  ?  " 

Abruptly  she  straightened  herself  and  stood 
beside  the  cot,  holding  the  mosquito  net  in  her 
hand,  and  looking  at  him  fixedly  with  an  air  of 
troubled  surprise. 

"  Jim,"  she  said,  and  her  face  saddened,  "  what 
put  it  into  your  mind  to  ask  me  that  question  ?  One 
can  never  go  back.  I  wish  you  hadn't  said  that — 
to-night.  What  brought  that  idea  into  your  mind  ? " 


280  The  Stronger  Influence 

"  I  don't  know/' 

He  fidgeted  nervously  with  his  collar  and  avoided 
her  gaze.  She  was  looking  at  him  with  a  puzzled, 
questioning  expression  in  her  eyes,  with  no  sus- 
picion of  his  purpose  in  mentioning  Paul's  name, 
but  struck  by  the  coincidence  that  Paul  should 
be  in  his  thoughts,  even  as  he  was  in  hers. 

"  It's  strange  you  should  have  said  that,"  she 
continued.  "  Lately  I  have  been  dreaming  of 
Paul.  I  dream  of  him  nearly  every  night." 

"  Dream  of  him  !  "  he  echoed  blankly.  "  Do 
you  mean  that  you  dream  that  he's  alive  ?  ' 

"  I  dream  that  I  see  him  looking  at  me,"  she 
answered.  "  He  looks  into  my  eyes  and  turns 
away ;  and  then  I  wake  and  lie  in  the  darkness, 
trembling.  The  dream  is  always  the  same." 

"  I  say !  that's  queer,"  he  said,  staring  at  her, 
as  earlier  in  the  day  he  had  stared  at  Hallam,  as  if 
he  saw  a  ghost.  These  things  were  making  him 
superstitious.  '  What  should  make  you  do  that, 
I  wonder  ?  ' 

"  Who  can  say  ?  It's  a  matter  of  nerves,  I 
suppose."  She  dropped  the  net  she  was  holding 
and  put  a  hand  on  his  arm  and  drew  him  towards 
the  door.  "  Come  along  down,  old  thing,"  she  said. 
"  We  are  not  good  company  for  one  another  to- 
night. For  your  toothache,  and  my  heartache,  we 
must  seek  an  anodyne  in  the  society  of  the  others." 

But  for  Bainbridge's  imaginary  toothache  there 


Ibe  Stronger  Influence  281 

was  no  effective  anodyne  :  the  complexities  of  the 
situation  were  altogether  beyond  his  efforts  at 
elucidation.  There  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  stand 
by  and  wait  for  the  blow  to  fall. 

He  sat  on  the  stoep  and  talked  with  Lake, 
George's  brother-in-law,  about  the  native  labour 
unrest,  and  the  advisability  of  adopting  strong 
measures  in  quelling  the  agitation. 

' '  This  native  question  is  going  to  be  a  big 
problem  in  the  near  future,"  Lake  opined.  '  We 
give  the  coloured  man  too  much  power." 

"  What  other  course  is  possible  with  a  civilized 
system  of  government  ?  "  Bainbridge  contended. 

"  But  the  coloured  man  isn't  properly  civilized," 
Lake  insisted ;  "  that's  the  point.  He  hasn't 
grasped  the  rudiments  of  citizenship  yet." 

"  Well,  we've  got  to  teach  him.     He's  learning." 

Bainbridge 's  mood  forced  him  into  a  reluctant 
opposition.  He  was  not  in  sympathy  with  the 
coloured  man,  but  he  took  up  his  defence  warmly. 
He  and  Lake  plunged  into  argument ;  while  in  the 
room  behind  them  Mary  sang  in  a  fresh,  sweet 
soprano  voice  to  Esme's  accompaniment,  and  the 
rest  sat  about  and  listened  and  joined  in  the 
popular  choruses. 

And,  a  few  miles  away,  walking  along  the  shore 
in  the  darkness,  a  man,  alone  and  with  a  mind  black 
with  despair,  thought  of  the  wife  he  had  come  back 
to  claim,  and  of  a  child  which  was  not  his.  .  .  . 


Thf  Stronger  Influence  XXXIII 

THROUGHOUT  that  night  Hallam  tramped 
along  the  shore,  struck  inland,  came  back  to  the 
sea,  retraced  his  steps  over  the  same  ground;  walking 
with  tireless  energy  while  he  considered  the  position, 
so  hopelessly  complicated  by  the  birth  of  the  child. 
His  feeling  for  Esme  oscillated  between  love 
and  hate.  He  thought  of  her  as  his  dear  wife, 
and  wanted  her  urgently ;  again  he  thought  of 
her  as  the  mother  of  Sinclair's  child,  and  his 
heart  turned  from  her,  grew  hard  with  bitter 
jealousy  and  revulsion.  The  thought  of  the 
child  infuriated  him — the  child  who  stood  between 
him  and  the  woman  whom  he  loved  and  who 
belonged  to  him.  She  was  his  wife ;  he  could 
claim  her.  But  would  she  give  up  the  baby  for 
him  ?  Would  she  forsake  all  the  new  love  which 
had  come  into  her  life  for  the  sake  of  the  old 
love,  so  unexpectedly  come  back  to  her,  almost 
like  a  gift  from  the  grave?  He  could  not  tell. 
Intimately  as  he  knew  her  nature,  confident  in 
his  assurance  that  the  best  of  her  love  had  been 
given  to  him,  there  was  yet  a  side  of  her  character 

282 


The  Stronger  Influence  283 

with  which  he  was  wholly  unfamiliar,  the  maternal 
side.  He  had  no  means  of  judging  how  far  her 
motherhood  would  influence  her.  That  the  mater- 
nal instinct  was  deep-rooted  with  her  he  knew ; 
that  much  she  had  revealed  to  him  during  their 
married  life.  She  had  hungered  for  a  child.  .  .  . 

He  stood  still  on  the  sands,  looking  seaward, 
with  hands  clasped  behind  him,  his  shoulders 
bent.  He  became  suddenly  conscious  of  great 
physical  fatigue.  He  had  walked  far  and  for 
many  hours — walked,  as  he  had  been  thinking, 
in  a  circle  which  brought  him  back  to  the  starting 
point,  no  whit  further  advanced  towards  the 
solving  of  the  problem  which  harassed  his  mind, 
and  which,  on  setting  forth,  he  had  determined 
to  solve  before  another  dawn  broke.  And  already 
the  first  sign  of  dawn  showed  in  the  pallid  skyline 
where  it  touched  the  sea.  The  feel  of  the  air 
was  fresh  and  pure ;  it  followed  upon  the  hot 
darkness  of  the  passing  night  like  a  revivifying 
breath.  Hallam  felt  its  coolness  on  his  forehead 
and  lifted  his  face  to  meet  it,  and  beheld  the 
stars  glowing  fainter,  and  the  darkness  yielding 
reluctantly  to  the  grey  of  the  creeping  dawn. 

Another  day  was  advancing  upon  him,  another 
day  of  perplexity  and  doubt  and  bitter  torment ; 
creeping  upon  him  like  a  cold  shadow  out  of  the 
darker  shadows,  bringing  with  it  no  hope,  only  a 
deeper  sense  of  despair. 


284  The  Stronger  Influence 

What  ought  he  to  do  ?   ... 

Was  it  clearly  his  duty,  as  Bainbridge  had  sought 
to  indicate,  to  leave  Esme  in  the  undisturbed 
belief  in  his  death  and  in  her  false  position  as 
George  Sinclair's  wife?  That  course  raised  so 
many  points,  legal  and  ethical,  which  made  its 
adoption  difficult,  if  not  impossible.  There  was 
the  question  of  income.  Why  should  his  income, 
as  well  as  his  wife,  be  enjoyed  by  the  man  who, 
even  though  unwittingly,  had  nevertheless  robbed 
him  of  everything  ?  There  was  the  other  resource 
of  collusive  divorce.  But  that  was  only  practic- 
able by  agreement,  which  would  involve  the 
disturbing  of  Esme's  peace  of  mind,  and  invest 
her  with  the  responsibility  of  decision.  There 
was  the  third  course  of  claiming  her  as  his  wife. 
Here  again  the  difficulty  of  the  child  obtruded 
itself,  an  insuperable  barrier  to  the  happiness 
of  all  concerned.  He  wanted  his  wife,  but  he 
did  not  want  the  child ;  on  that  point  he  was 
firmly  resolved.  It  was  the  one  point  in  the 
series  of  complications  upon  which  he  entertained 
no  doubt.  The  child  was  not  his ;  he  had  no 
thought  of  adopting  it  as  his  :  he  was  jealous  of  it, 
more  jealous  of  it  than  he  was  of  Sinclair.  Its  very 
helplessness  made  it  a  tremendous  factor  in  the  case. 

He  wondered  dully  how  Esme;  when  she  learned 
of  it,  would  receive  the  news  of  his  return  ? 
Judged  by  ordinary  standpoints,  his  manner 


The  Stronger  Influence  285 

of  leaving  her,  of  allowing  her  to  remain  uninformed 
as  to  his  whereabouts,  was  unpardonable.  Practi- 
cally it  amounted  to  desertion,  as  Bainbridge 
said.  But  his  mental  condition  at  the  time  he 
left  his  home  was  responsible  for  his  amazing 
conduct.  The  voyage  to  England  had  been 
undertaken  for  the  purpose  of  regaining  strength, 
of  regaining  control  of  his  nerves ;  the  rest  had 
been  due  to  the  unfortunate  accident  of  circum- 
stances :  it  might  have  happened  to  any  one  ; 
it  had  happened  to  other  men.  Plenty  of  fellows 
reported  missing  had  turned  up  again.  He  won- 
dered whether  any  man,  beside  himself,  had  re- 
turned to  his  home  to  find  his  wife  married  again  ? 
And,  if  so,  how  he  had  acted?  No  precedent 
could  have  aided  him  in  his  dilemma ;  each  case 
called  for  individual  action  which  must  be  governed 
largely  by  circumstances.  The  big  stumbling 
block  in  his  own  case  was  the  child.  Everything 
worked  round  to  that  one  point  and  stuck  there  ; 
it  formed  a  cul-de-sac  to  every  line  of  thought. 

Wearily  Hallam  returned  to  his  hotel  and 
went  to  bed  and  fell  into  the  heavy,  unrefreshing 
sleep  of  physical  and  mental  exhaustion. 

Later  in  the  day  he  went  again  to  Jim  Bain- 
bridge's  office.  Bainbridge  was  not  in ;  his 
return  was  expected  any  minute.  Hallam  decided 
to  wait  for  him.  He  waited  a  long  time.  No  one 
came  to  disturb  him.  His  presence  was,  as  a 


286  The  Stronger  Influence 

matter  of  fact,  forgotten  in  the  excitement  of 
the  unusual  doings  outside  the  Court  House.  The 
Square  and  the  streets  leading  to  it  were  choked 
with  natives,  agitators,  angrily  demanding  the 
release  of  their  leader,  whom  the  authorities 
had  arrested  as  a  disturber  of,  and  a  menace  to, 
the  peace  of  the  community. 

Hallam  knew  of  these  matters  only  through 
the  talk  overheard  at  the  hotel.  He  had  noticed 
an  unusually  large  crowd  of  natives  when  he 
descended  the  hill  on  his  way  to  see  Bainbridge. 
The  crowd  had  swelled  its  numbers  since  then, 
though  it  had  not  yet  attained  to  the  dangerous 
proportions  which  it  did  later,  when  the  serious 
rioting  took  place,  and  the  massed  ranks  of  dark 
forms  surged  in  ugly  rushes  upon  the  building 
which  was  held  by  a  brave  handful  of  Europeans. 

The  angry  murmur  of  the  mob  rose  and  died 
down,  and  rose  again,  louder  and  more  continu- 
ous. The  sounds  penetrated  to  the  quiet  room 
where  Hallam  sat,  so  engrossed  with  the  turmoil  of 
his  own  thoughts  that  these  signs  of  men's  passions 
aroused  beyond  control  excited  in  him  merely  a 
faint  curiosity.  He  rose  and  went  out  into  the 
street  to  ascertain  what  the  disturbance  was  about. 

The  sight  of  the  vast  concourse  of  natives 
amazed  him.  From  every  direction  dark  run- 
ning figures  appeared,  many  of  them  armed  with 
sticks,  and  all  making  for  the  same  point,  wedging 


The  Stronger  Influence  287 

themselves  into  the  crowd  like  stray  pieces  in 
one  gigantic  whole.  There  was  no  possibility 
of  getting  past  them ;  it  would  be  dangerous,  he 
realized,  to  go  among  them.  Their  attitude 
was  threatening.  He  had  had  experience  of  the 
native  when  he  was  out  of  control.  Lacking 
in  discipline  and  all  sense  of  responsibility,  and 
with  an  utter  disregard  for  consequences,  he  was 
a  difficult  proposition  to  tackle. 

Hallam  turned  down  a  side  street,  which  was 
silent  and  deserted,  passed  a  number  of  ware- 
houses, and  came  out  upon  the  fringe  of  the  crowd. 
So  far  nothing  had  happened  to  fan  the  smoulder- 
ing hate  into  a  conflagration.  It  needed  only, 
the  white  man  realized,  the  throwing  of  a  missile 
or  the  random  discharge  of  a  firearm,  to  rouse  the 
mob  to  a  frenzy  of  murderous  activity.  But  so  far 
the  situation  was  in  hand  ;  the  rioting  came  later. 

It  was  difficult  to  say  who  started  it,  from  which 
direction  came  that  first  shot  that  turned  the 
sea  of  black  swaying  figures  into  a  frenzied  rabble 
of  monomaniacs  with  a  common  enemy,  the 
white  man,  the  ruler,  who,  terribly  outclassed 
in  numbers,  yet  held  the  coloured  man  at  bay. 
They  were  there,  behind  the  walls,  a  handful  of 
white  men,  police  and  ex-soldiers,  armed,  deter- 
mined, cool-headed,  maintaining  law  and  authority 
against  the  vast  rabble  of  native  insurgents. 

Hallam  heard  several  shots  fired ;  heard  the  yells 


288  The  Stronger  Influence 

of  the  mob ;  watched  the  ugly  rush  as  it  surged 
forward  in  one  mighty  wave  of  humanity.  Sticks 
were  wielded  freely,  stones  and  other  missiles 
came  into  use  ;  the  noise  swelled  to  pandemonium. 
To  remain  in  the  streets  was  unsafe.  A  white 
man  would  receive  no  quarter  if  the  mob  got  hold 
of  him.  Aware  of  his  danger,  Hallam  turned  to 
retreat ;  and,  as  he  made  for  the  side  street  down 
which  he  had  come,  the  sound  of  a  woman's 
scream  arrested  his  attention.  He  halted  and 
looked  round.  A  white  woman  was  struggling 
with  a  native  a  few  yards  from  where  he  stood.  It 
was  the  work  of  a  minute  to  reach  her ;  the 
next,  he  had  the  native  by  the  throat  and  was 
choking  the  life  out  of  him.  The  woman  had 
fallen  to  the  ground.  She  might  be  hurt,  or  she 
might  have  fainted  :  Hallam  did  not  pause  to 
find  out.  A  couple  of  natives  had  seen  them 
and  were  running  towards  them ;  if  they  came 
up  with  them,  though  he  might  succeed  in  shoot- 
ing them,  for  he  carried  a  revolver,  it  would  bring 
the  crowd  upon  them ;  and  he  and  the  woman 
he  had  rescued  would  inevitably  perish.  Stooping, 
he  picked  her  up  in  his  arms,  and  ran  with  her  up 
the  street,  darting  through  the  open  door  of  a  wool- 
shed,  where  he  dropped  her  unceremoniously  on  a 
bale  of  hides  and  ran  back  to  the  door  and  secured  it. 
But  there  was  no  sign  without  of  their  pursuers. 
The  chase  of  fugitive  whites  was  less  exciting 


The  Stronger  Influence  289 

than  the  bigger  business  in  hand.  The  street  was 
quiet,  and  wore  an  air  of  desertion,  as  if  every  man 
had  left  his  post  for  the  scene  of  greater  activity. 

Hallam  turned  from  securing  the  door,  and 
leaned  with  his  shoulders  against  it,  breathing 
hard,  in  quick  short  breaths.  With  the  abrupt 
shutting  out  of  the  sunlight  the  interior  of  the 
building  appeared  dark ;  the  insufficient  light, 
which  penetrated  through  the  dirty  windows, 
revealed  everything  dimly,  like  objects  seen  in  the 
dusk.  Neither  Hallam  nor  the  woman  had  spoken. 
They  did  not  speak  now.  She  was  sitting  up,  look- 
ing about  her  with  dazed  eyes.  She  put  a  hand 
over  her  eyes,  as  if  to  shut  out  the  sight  of  the  tall 
figure  confronting  her,  uncovered  them  again,  and 
looked  straight  into  the  eyes  of  the  man,  who  stood 
with  his  shoulders  against  the  door,  watching  her. 

He  had  recognized  her  when  he  stooped  over 
her  in  the  street  to  lift  her ;  she  had  recognized 
him  sooner.  But  to  her  it  had  seemed  that  fear 
had  deranged  her  reason ;  she  believed  that  her 
imagination  had  given  to  her  rescuer  the  features 
of  some  one  whom  she  knew  to  be  dead.  Now, 
while  she  watched  him,  listened  to  his  deep  breath- 
ing, conviction  came  to  her  that  this  was  Paul 
himself,  no  creation  of  her  fancy ;  and  suddenly, 
while  she  looked  at  him,  the  room  grew  dark  about 
her,  his  face  faded  in  a  mist,  disappeared :  she 
dropped  back  on  the  hides  and  lay  still. 

19 


The  Stronger  Influence  XX XIV 

AS  Hallam  looked  down  on  the  white  face, 
with  the  eyes  closed,  and  the  dark  lashes 
resting  on  the  colourless  cheeks,  there  came 
back  very  vividly  to  his  memory  a  picture  of  his 
wife  lying  senseless  at  the  foot  of  the  stairs,  and 
the  horror  which  had  gripped  his  heart  at  the 
sight  of  her  lying  thus,  the  remorse  and  the  self- 
accusation  which  had  all  but  unhinged  his  reason. 
In  recalling  these  painful  memories  he  felt  his 
heart  softening  towards  her ;  the  jealousy  which 
had  embittered  his  thoughts  of  her  yielded  to  the 
more  generous  instincts  of  love  and  a  pitiful 
tenderness,  which  desired  only  to  shield  her  from 
the  distress  and  embarrassment  of  her  position. 

Fate  had  resolved  the  point  as  to  whether  she 
should  know  of  his  return ;  the  responsibility  of 
decision  had  been  lifted  from  his  shoulders.  At 
least  his  presence  had  been  the  means  of  saving 
her  from  a  dreadful  and  violent  death.  It  was 
horrible  to  contemplate  what  might  have  happened 
had  he  not  been  on  the  spot. 

Deliberately   he   moved  away   from   the  door 

290 


The  Stronger  Influence  291 

and  approached  the  unconscious  figure  lying  on 
the  pile  of  evil- smelling  hides.  For  a  while  he 
remained  standing,  looking  down  on  the  quiet 
form  ;  then  he  took  a  seat  on  the  hides  and  sat 
still  and  watched  for  a  sign  of  returning  conscious- 
ness. As  soon  as  she  was  equal  to  walking  he 
meant  to  take  her  to  Jim  Bainbridge's  office. 
He  was  not  satisfied  of  their  safety  while  they 
remained  where  they  were. 

ii 

Esme  recovered  from  her  faint  to  find  him 
seated  beside  her,  watching  her  with  those  keen 
eyes  which  seemed  to  search  her  soul.  She  lay 
still  for  a  while,  staring  back  at  him,  too  bewildered 
to  realize  at  once  where  she  was  and  what  had 
happened.  Then  abruptly  memory  came  sweeping 
back  in  a  confusing  rush,  and  the  events  immedi- 
ately preceding  her  swoon  crowded  into  her  mind. 
She  sat  up ;  and  the  man  and  the  woman  looked 
steadily  at  one  another. 

"  Paul !  "  she  whispered. 

"  Esme !  " 

Her  eyes  filled  with  tears. 

"  Oh,  my  dear  !    Oh,  my  dear  !  "  she  wailed. 

She  broke  down  and  cried  uncontrollably.  He 
made  no  move  to  comfort  her,  or  to  attempt 
explanations ;  he  let  her  cry ;  tears  were  more 
often  a  relief  than  otherwise.  And  there  was 
nothing  he  could  find  to  say.  There  was  nothing, 
it  seemed  to  him,  to  be  said.  Matters  had  reached 


292  The  Stronger  Influence 

a  deadlock.  Here  they  were,  husband  and  wife, 
together  after  long  years  of  separation ;  and, 
dividing  them  more  effectually  than  the  years, 
was  the  fact  of  Esme's  second  marriage  and  the 
existence  of  her  child. 

Presently  she  looked  up  at  him  through  her 
tears  with  eyes  that  were  infinitely  sad,  that  held, 
too,  in  their  look  an  expression  of  yearning  tender- 
ness for  this  man,  whom  she  had  loved  in  the 
past,  whom  she  still  loved  better  than  any  one 
in  the  world.  The  sight  of  him  brought  back 
so  many  memories  of  the  happiness  which  their 
great  love  for  one  another  had  put  into  their  lives. 
Why  had  she  forgotten  ?  The  memory  of  the 
beauty  of  their  love  should  have  satisfied  her. 
What  had  she  done  by  forgetting  so  soon  ? 

"  They  told  me  you  were  dead,"  she  said. 

"  I  know." 

"  At  first  I  wouldn't  believe  it.  But  you  sent 
no  word,  and  the  years  passed.  .  .  .  Oh,  my 
dear  !  Oh,  my  dear !  Why  did  you  leave  me 
like  that  ?  — without  a  word  or  a  sign  from  you 
all  these  years?  ' 

"  I  will  explain  later,"  he  answered,  speaking 
as  calmly  as  his  emotion  permitted.  "  For  the 
present  you  must  just  believe  that  it  wasn't 
altogether  my  fault.  I  was  ill  for  a  long  time 
after  I  left  home.  It  was  touch  and  go.  If  there 
is  a  purpose  which  governs  our  destinies,  I  suppose 


The  Stronger  Influence  293 

there  was  some  reason  why  I  should  live.  Anyhow 
I  pulled  through  with  all  the  odds  against  me. 
And  again,  when  men  were  dying  all  about  me, 
my  life  was  preserved — I  know  not  why,  nor  for 
what.  I  have  no  place  in  the  world.  I  am  just 
so  much  dust  encumbering  the  earth.  My  return 
is  only  a  distress  to  you.  I  come  back  to  find 
you  gone  from  me/' 

She  hid  her  face  in  her  hands  and  wept  afresh. 
Gone  from  him  !  That  was  how  he  saw  it.  She 
had  not  been  faithful  to  his  memory  even. 

"Tell  me  about  yourself,"  she  pleaded.  "I 
want  you  to  fill  in  the  blank.  I  want  to  know 
where  you've  been — all  about  everything.  I  don't 
understand.  Tell  me." 

"  Not  now — nor  here,"  he  said,  rising.  "It's 
a  long  story ;  and  we  should  be  moving  out  of 
this.  Can  you  walk  as  far  as  Jim's  office  ?  I 
think  we  should  be  safer  there." 

As  though  reminded  by  his  caution  of  the  disturb- 
ance in  the  streets,  which  the  sight  of  him  had 
driven  temporarily  from  her  thoughts,  she  stood 
up  and  remained  in  an  attentive  attitude,  listen- 
ing to  the  din,  which  penetrated  to  their  quiet 
shelter  with  horrible  distinctness.  Men  were  out 
there  a  few  yards  away,  fighting  and  being 
injured,  killed  perhaps,  as  she  might  have  been 
but  for  Paul.  She  lifted  frightened  eyes  to  his 
face. 


294  ^he  Stronger  Influence 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  she  asked.  "  What  is  happen- 
ing?" 

"It's  a  riot,"  he  answered.  " The  gaol  will 
be  overfull  as  a  result  of  this  noisy  disturbance. 
I  hope  some  of  the  brutes  will  get  shot." 

"  You  saved  my  life,  Paul,"  she  said,  looking 
at  him  gravely. 

He  made  no  answer  to  that.  He  went  to  the 
door  and  unfastened  it  and  looked  out  into  the 
street.  With  the  opening  of  the  door  the  tumult 
seemed  to  swell  in  volume,  but  the  street  itself 
was  quiet;  there  was  no  one  within  sight.  He 
turned  to  her  swiftly  and  took  hold  of  her  arm 
and  led  her  outside. 

"  There  is  nothing  to  be  nervous  about,"  he 
said.  "  We  shan't  meet  a  soul.  I  came  this 
way  just  before  I  saw  you."  , 

None  the  less,  he  carried  his  revolver  in  his  hand, 
and  hurried  her  up  the  street,  keeping  a  sharp 
look-out  against  surprise,  until  he  got  her  safely 
to  Bainbridge's  office.  The  room  when  they 
entered  it  was  empty  as  when  he  had  left  it,  and 
showed  no  sign  of  its  owner  having  been  there. 

Esme  sat  down,  white  and  shaken,  and  leaned 
back  in  her  chair  without  speaking.  A  clerk  came 
to  the  door  and  inquired  whether  he  could  do  any- 
thing. Her  appearance,  hatless  and  dishevelled 
and  white,  had  struck  him  when  she  entered. 
She  asked  for  water ;  and  he  went  away  to  fetch 


The  Stronger  Influence  295 

it.  Hallam  took  the  glass  from  him  when  he 
returned  with  it  and  carried  it  to  her  himself. 

"  Mrs.  Sinclair  isn't  hurt,  I  hope  ?  "  the  clerk 
asked. 

"  No,"  Hallam  answered  curtly  ;  and  the  clerk 
withdrew. 

At  the  sound  of  her  name,  Esme's  eyes  sought 
Hallam's  face.  She  saw  it  harden,  saw  the  lips 
compress  themselves,  as  he  turned  with  the  glass 
in  his  hand  and  approached  her  chair.  She  took 
the  .glass  from  him  with  a  word  of  thanks,  and 
drank  the  contents  slowly,  while  he  paced  the 
carpet  with  long,  uneasy  strides,  backwards  and 
forwards,  before  the  open  window. 

"  Paul,"  she  asked  suddenly,  "  have  you  seen 
Jim  ?  " 

"I  saw  him  yesterday,"  he  answered,  without 
pausing  in  his  walk. 

"  Yesterday  !  "  she  echoed,  her  thoughts  revert- 
ing to  the  dinner  party,  and  to  the  curious  pre- 
occupation of  her  brother-in-law's  manner.  Jim 
had  known  yesterday  that  Paul  was  alive  ;  and 
he  had  said  nothing. 

"  He  told  you — about  me  ?  "  she  said. 

"  Yes — everything  that  matters." 

She  put  the  glass  down  on  the  desk  and  stood 
up  and  confronted  him. 

"What  am  I  to  do?"  she  wailed.  "Oh! 
what  am  I  to  do  ?  " 


296  The  Stronger  Influence 

"  That,"  he  answered  with  surprising  quietness, 
"is  a  question  which  no  one  can  resolve  but 
yourself.  It  is  for  you  to  decide." 

"  But  I  don't  know  what  to  do,"  she  returned 

distressfully.     "  I Oh,  dear  heaven  !  what  a 

terrible  position  to  be  placed  in  !  ' 

She  wrung  her  hands  and  turned  away  from  him 
and  stood  leaning  against  the  frame  of  the  window, 
where  the  warm  fresh  air  poured  in  on  her,  and 
the  distant  sounds  of  the  din  in  the  streets  came 
to  her  ears  like  something  far  off,  something  a}to- 
gether  outside  her  own  concerns.  The  horror  of 
her  encounter  with  the  Kaffir  was  submerged, 
almost  forgotten,  in  the  bewilderment  of  Paul's 
return.  Paul  knew  of  her  second  marriage— 
which  was  no  marriage.  He  must  know,  since 
he  had  spoken  with  Jim,  of  her  child.  The 
child's  future  welfare  was  her  chief  concern. 
She  resented  the  injury  done  to  it  as  a  deliberate 
wrong  wrought  through  the  agency  of  this  man 
by  his  long  absence,  his  inexplicable  silence. 
She  felt  bitter  when  she  thought  of  it. 

"  Why  did  you  leave  me  in  ignorance  of  your 
whereabouts  ?  '  she  asked.  "  Was  it  fair  to 
treat  me  like  that  ?  You  had  all  my  love,  all  my 
confidence.  Surely  you  might  have  trusted  me  ! 
Whatever  you  were  doing,  wherever  you  were,  I 
should  have  understood.  I  would  have  waited 
patiently.  I  was  prepared  to  wait  after  reading 


The  Stronger  Influence  297 

your  letter.  I  judged  from  it  that  you  would  not 
return  to  me  until  you  were  sure  of  yourself,  even 
though  it  meant  separation  for  all  our  lives. 
But  you  could  have  let  me  know  you  were  alive. 
Tt  was  cruel  to  keep  silent  all  these  years/' 

'  Yes,"  he  allowed  ;    "  had  it  been  intentional 
it  would  have  been." 

He  joined  her  at  the  window,  and  stood  opposite 
to  her,  observing  her  with  a  steady  gaze  which 
drew  her  eyes  to  his,  held  them :  she  remained 
looking  back  at  him,  listening  to  him,  while  he 
strove  to  make  her  understand  the  struggle  and 
the  despair  of  those  silent  years. 

He  told  her  of  his  flight ;  of  the  unhinged  state 
of  his  mind  when  he  left  home  ;  of  his  physical 
condition  which  brought  him  to  the  verge  of  death  ; 
of  how  he  would  have  died  but  for  the  care  of  a 
stranger — a  poor  white,  who  later  robbed  him, 
and  was  subsequently  buried  in  his  name.  He 
told  her  of  his  slow  recovery  in  a  native  hut ; 
of  the  fierce  craving  for  alcohol  which  assailed  him 
as  soon  as  he  was  able  once  more  to  get  about. 

"  I  could  not  write  to  you  then,"  he  said.  "  I 
felt  unfit  to  breathe  your  name." 

He  went  on  to  speak  of  the  journey  to  England, 
still  with  his  vice  in  the  ascendant.  He  had 
given  way  to  it  in  England.  His  illness  had  sapped 
his  will-power  and  he  was  at  the  mercy  of  his 
desires  once  more.  Then  came  the  war.  He 


298  'The  Stronger  Influence 

joined  up  with  the  intention  of  making  good. 
Until  he  had  made  good  he  was  resolved  that  he 
would  not  write. 

The  rest  of  the  story,  of  his  early  capture  and 
his  ineffectual  efforts  to  communicate  with  her, 
he  described  briefly.  He  gave  a  detailed  account 
of  the  period  following  his  release  ;  of  his  tedious 
convalescence ;  of  his  longing  for  her ;  of  his 
time  of  probation,  during  which  he  tested  his 
endurance  until  satisfied  that  he  had  won  a 
final  victory  over  himself.  He  told  of  his  voyage 
out ;  of  his  wish  to  break  the  news  of  his  return 
to  her  himself. 

"  It  was  unlikely  that  you  believed  me  to  be 
still  alive,"  he  said.  "  And  I  did  not  want  to 
give  you  a  shock  by  writing  when,  by  the  exer- 
cise of  a  little  patience,  I  could  tell  you  all  this, 
and ' 

He  broke  off  abruptly.  In  his  imagination 
he  had  anticipated  her  gladness,  had  pictured 
their  mutual  joy  in  the  reunion,  when,  with  his 
arms  about  her,  he  would  tell  her  the  story  oi 
his  absence,  and  with  his  kisses  comfort  her  for 
the  sorrow  that  was  past.  This  home-coming 
was  so  different  from  anything  he  had  conceived. 

"  I  knew  nothing  of  the  finding  of  the  body  oi 
a  man  supposed  to  be  me,"  he  said.  '  That  was 
one  of  the  unforeseen  accidents  of  circumstance 
which  create  an  aftermath  of  deplorable  conse- 


The  Stronger  Influence  299 

quences.  We  are  the  victims  of  circumstance.  It 
is  useless  to  impute  blame  to  any  one.  The  facts 
remain.  But  for  Jim's  positive  testimony  you 
would  not  have  re-married.  Without  some  proof 
of  my  death,  you  would  have  gone  on  hoping,  I 
believe." 

"  Paul !— Oh,  Paul !  "  she  sobbed,  and  held 
out  her  two  hands  towards  him  in  a  gesture  of 
pathetic  helplessness. 

He  took  them  in  his.  And  abruptly  with  the  feel 
of  her  hands  in  his,  his  reserve  broke  down  ;  the 
hardness  went  out  of  his  eyes.  He  gathered  her 
to  him  and  kissed  her  and  held  her  close  in  his 
embrace. 


The  Stronger  Influence  XXXV 

WHAT  were  they  to  do? 
That  was  the   question  they  asked   each 
other  as  soon  as  they  were  able  to  collect  their 
ideas  and  talk  calmly. 

Hallam  had  put  her  into  Jim  Bainbridge's 
swivel- chair  ;  and  he  sat  on  a  corner  of  the  writing- 
table,  facing  her,  holding  one  of  her  hands  in  his. 
It  was  become  to  him  now  a  matter  simply  of 
doing  what  was  best  for  her  happiness.  What- 
ever she  decided  he  resolved  to  abide  by.  She 
was  the  more  injured ;  the  settlement  of  their 
future  must  lie  in  her  hands.  His  rights,  his  claim 
on  her,  which  until  now  had  held  a  paramount 
place  in  his  thoughts,  assumed  an  insignificance 
which  rendered  them  negligible  beside  her  supreme 
right  to  the  direction  of  her  own  life. 

"  I'll  go,  Esme, — I'll  go  now,  if  you  wish  it," 
he  said, — "  if  it  would  make  things  easier  for  you." 

He  felt  her  fingers  close  round  his,  and  said  nc« 
more  about  going. 

They  sat  hand  in  hand  for  a  long  while  without 
speaking.  Presently  she  moved  slightly  and  lifted 

300 


The  Stronger  Influence  301 

her  face  to  his,  white  and  wrung  with  emotion, 
with  the  stain  of  much  weeping  disfiguring  it ; 
but  the  sweetness  of  her  look,  the  pathos  in  the 
eyes  which  met  his,  made  her  face  seem  more 
beautiful  to  him  than  ever  before.  He  leaned 
over  her  and  pressed  his  cheek  to  hers. 

"  Paul,"  she  whispered,  "if  it  wasn't  for 

It  breaks  my  heart  when  I  think  of  George." 

Sharply,  as  though  her  words  stung  him,  he 
drew  back. 

"It's  going  to  hurt  him  badly,"  she  said. 
"  And  my  baby.  .  .  .  My  poor  little  innocent 
baby  !  " 

Hallam  had  nothing  to  say  to  that.  The  culmin- 
ating disaster,  the  biggest  and  most  appalling  of 
the  difficulties  with  which  they  were  faced,  was 
wrought  by  the  existence  of  the  child.  He  sat, 
gripping  her  hand  hard,  speechless  and  immeasur- 
ably disconcerted.  What  was  there  to  say  in 
face  of  her  distress  ? 

"  I  can't  think,"  she  said.  "I'm  all  confused. 
This  changes  everything.  I  don't  know  what  to 
do.  I  don't  feel  that  I  can  go  home.  I  haven't 
got  a  home.  .  .  ." 

She  reflected  awhile. 

"  George  will  have  to  be  told.  That  is  the 
part  which  is  going  to  hurt.  I  can't  bear  to  think 
of  it." 

"  111  teU  him,"  Hallam  said. 


302  The  Stronger  Influence 

"  No  ;    not  you." 

She  spoke  with  a  sort  of  repressed  vehemence, 
and  drew  her  hand  from  his,  and  sat  with  it  clenched 
on  the  desk  in  front  of  her,  her  face  working  pain- 
fully. 

"  Oh  !  whatever  made  me  do  it  ?  "  she  cried. 
"  Why  was  I  not  satisfied  to  live  with  my 
memories  ?  All  this  distress  is  of  my  making. 
Why  did  I  do  it  ?  " 

"  God  knows  !  "  he  returned  with  sudden  bitter- 
ness. "  If  you  had  died,  your  memory  would 
have  been  sacred  to  me." 

He  regretted  having  said  that  as  soon  as  the 
words  were  spoken.  What  right  had  he  to 
reproach  her  for  inconstancy  ?  It  was  easy  for 
him  to  remain  faithful  in  thought  to  the  wife  who 
had  never  given  him  a  moment's  pain.  She  had 
suffered — he  knew  that  she  must  have  suffered 
a  great  deal — on  his  account ;  but  her  love  had 
remained  unchanged  through  all  the  disappoint- 
ment and  the  weary  years  of  waiting.  He  held 
the  foremost  place  in  her  heart.  He  was  still  her 
husband,  to  whom  she  had  given  the  best  of  her 
love.  She  did  not  withdraw  her  heart  from  him. 
She  wanted  him,  even  as  he  wanted  her :  that 
assurance  removed  all  doubt  from  his  mind  as 
to  what  they  ought  to  do.  He  meant  to  have  her. 

He  fell  to  talking  quietly  and  reasonably  about 
the  situation.  It  was  useless  to  indulge  in  re- 


The  Stronger  Influence  303 

crimination  and  self-reproach  :  they  must  take  a 
common-sense  view  of  their  case  and  make  the 
best  of  the  difficulties.  These  were  not  insoluble 
after  all. 

He  was  still  talking,  while  Esme  listened  to 
him  with  an  air  of  anxious  attention,  when  Jim 
Bainbridge  walked  in.  From  the  clerk  he  had 
learned  of  the  presence  of  his  sister-in-law  and  of 
the  stranger  who  had  visited  him  on  the  previous 
day.  The  cat  was  out  of  the  bag  now  for  good 
or  ill  :  the  business  of  keeping  Paul  Hallam's 
return  secret  had  ceased  to  be  any  affair  of  his. 
He  had  wanted  to  biff  the  fellow  out  of  it ;  had 
trusted  that  Hallam  would  see  the  inexpediency 
of  his  resuscitation  stunt  and  clear  off  before  the 
news  of  his  return  got  about.  And  here  they 
were,  together — in  his  office  !  He  was  jolly  well 
in  the  soup  this  time. 

He  came  in  looking  harassed  and  startled,  and 
stood  inside  the  door,  surveying  them  in  a  sort 
of  worried  amazement.  The  appearance  of  his 
sister-in-law  shocked  him.  She  looked  as  if  she 
had  been  mixed  up  in  the  brawling  in  the  streets ; 
as  if  she  had  been  rolled  in  the  dust  and  badly 
hurt.  His  eyes  met  hers,  and  read  reproach  in  them 
as  she  got  up  from  his  chair  and  came  towards 
him. 

"  Jim,  why  didn't  you  tell  me  this  last  night?  " 
she  said. 


304  The  Stronger  Influence 

"  I  wouldn't  have  told  you,  ever,  if  I'd  had 
my  way,"  he  answered,  with  the  sulky  manner 
of  a  man  receiving  an  unmerited  rebuke.  "  How 
did  you  come  to  find  one  another  ?  If  those 
blasted  niggers  hadn't  started  raising  Cain  over 
the  arrest  of  their  blackguardly  leader,  I'd 
have  been  in  my  place  here.  Something  always 
happens  when  I'm  not  on  the  spot.  Well,  you've 
settled  what  you're  going  to  do,  I  suppose  ? 
It's  your  show  anyhow." 

The  telephone  bell  rang  at  that  moment  and 
interrupted  the  train  of  his  ideas.  He  seated 
himself  before  his  desk  and  took  up  the  receiver. 
His  face  was  a  study  in  expressions  while  he 
listened. 

"  HuUo  !  .  .  .     Yes.     She's  here  all  right.  .  .  . 

"  It's  George  speaking,"  he  looked  up  to  remark 
for  the  general  information. 

"  Eh  ?  .  .  .  Oh  !  yes  ;  there's  been  a  devil  of  a 
shindy.  It's  quieting  down  now.  I  think  we've 
seen  the  worst  of  it.  I  hope  it  will  serve  to 
illustrate  how  absurdly  inadequate  our  police 
force  is.  They've  done  wonders.  There  will 
be  a  few  funerals  over  this.  One  or  two  Euro- 
peans killed,  worse  luck  !  .  .  .  You  will  ?  .  .  . 
Right !  We'll  keep  her  with  us  until  you  turn 
up.  Good-bye." 

He  rang  off,  and  looked  up  at  Esme  with  a  wry 
face. 


The  Stronger  Influence  305 

'  They've  heard  of  the  row ;  and  George  got 
the  wind  up  about  you.  He's  motoring  in  later 
to  fetch  you.  How  did  you  get  through  ?  Were 
you  roughly  handled  at  all  ?  ' 

He  surveyed  the  disorder  of  her  hair,  her  torn 
and  crumpled  dress.  She  looked  as  though  she 
had  been  in  the  thick  of  the  melee.  She  nodded. 

"  If  Paul  hadn't  been  near  I  should  have  been 
killed,"  she  answered.  "  That  was  how  we  met. 
I  was  on  my  way  here  when  a  Kaffir  got  hold  of 
me.  Paul  killed  him." 

"  Well !  "  he  said,  and  sat  back  and  stared  from 
one  to  the  other  in  astonished  curiosity.  "  I 
take  it,  that  about  settles  it.  It  establishes  his 
claim  anyway.  It  seems  like  an  act  of  Providence 
that  he  should  be  in  the  right  spot  at  the  right 
moment.  I'm  not  going  against  that." 

Hallam  put  out  a  hand  and  drew  Esme  to 
his  side. 

"I'm  not  for  allowing  any  man  to  interfere 
between  us,"  he  said  in  quiet  authoritative  tones. 
"  She's  mine  all  right.  We're  both  agreed  as  to 
that." 

Jim  Bainbridge  smiled  dryly. 

"So  it  seems.  Well,  it's  the  right  course,  I've 
no  doubt." 

He  made  a  mental  resolve  that  he  would  not 
be  anywhere  handy  when  the  explanation  with 

George  took  place.    Thank  Heaven,  a  man  had 

20 


306  The  Stronger  Influence 

his  club  to  retire  to  in  these  domestic  crises  ! 

"  You'd  better  not  show  up  at  the  house," 
he  observed  to  Hallam,  "  until  we've  broken  the 
news  to  Rose.  Shocks  aren't  good  for  her.  I've 
had  as  much  excitement  as  I  care  about  for  one 
day." 

Esme  crossed  to  his  chair  and  stood  beside  it, 
resting  a  hand  on  his  shoulder. 

"  There's  one  thing  more,  dear,"  she  said, 
with  brightly  flushed  cheeks,  and  eyes  carefully 
averted  from  Hallam 's.  "  I  want  you  to  ring 
up  George  and  ask  him  to  bring  baby  and  nurse 
in  the  car.  I  am  staying  with  you  to-night." 

"  The  kid,  eh  !  " 

Swiftly  he  glanced  at  Hallam.  Hallam  re- 
mained rigid  and  said  nothing. 


The  Stronger  Influence  XXXV  1 


whole  world  changed  for  Esme  with  the 
A  return  of  the  husband  she  had  mourned  as 
dead.  But  for  her  sorrow  on  George  Sinclair's 
account,  she  could  have  found  in  her  heart  only 
room  for  rejoicing  in  the  knowledge  that  Paul  was 
alive  and  well  instead,  as  she  had  been  led  to 
believe,  of  having  died  mysteriously  and  alone 
and  been  buried  in  a  lonely  grave.  But  the 
thought  of  George,  of  how  this  must  hit  him, 
haunted  her  distressfully.  It  grieved  her  to  have 
to  hurt  him  ;  he  was  so  altogether  fine  and  good. 
She  felt  like  a  cheat  in  relation  to  him.  It  seemed 
to  her  that  she  had  stolen  his  love,  stolen  everything 
he  had  to  give  ;  and  now  she  was  about  to  steal 
his  child  from  him  and  leave  him  sad  and  alone. 

If  only  she  had  remained  steadfast,  and  had 
refused  to  marry  him  ! 

The  thought  of  the  child  tormented  her  anew, 
the  child  who  would  never  know  a  father's  love. 
Fortunately  the  baby  was  so  young  that  these 
matters  could  be  kept  from  her  knowledge  until 
it  seemed  expedient  to  reveal  them  to  her.  Paul, 

307 


308  The  Stronger  Influence 

however  kind  he  might  be,  could  never  take  a 
father's  place.  Instinctively  she  realized  that, 
though  he  accepted  the  position,  he  resented  it 
keenly.  The  knowledge  that  the  child  was  Esme's 
and  not  his  galled  him  sorely.  But  from  the 
moment  when  he  was  resolved  to  have  his  wife  at 
all  costs  Hallam  had  made  up  his  mind  that  the 
child  would  form  a  part  of  the  new  life.  Deep 
down  in  his  soul  he  had  a  sort  of  perception  that 
in  this  mental  scourging  lay  his  punishment  and 
possibly  his  ultimate  salvation.  He  would  be 
good  to  the  child  for  the  sake  of  the  woman  he 
loved,  and  who  loved  them  both. 

He  drove  with  Bainbridge  and  Esme  to  the  top 
of  the  hill,  where  he  left  them  and  walked  the 
few  yards  to  his  hotel.  The  disturbance  was  over, 
and  the  rioters  were  in  rapid  retreat.  They 
swarmed  over  the  Donkin  Reserve  on  their  way 
to  the  locations.  Many  of  them  were  injured, 
and,  with  the  blood  streaming  from  their  wounds, 
presented  a  sufficiently  unpleasant  sight.  The 
taxi  turned  into  Havelock  Street  and  stopped 
before  the  house,  the  door  of  which  was  opened 
promptly,  and  Rose,  looking  concerned  and  curious, 
came  out  upon  the  step.  Her  alarm  increased 
when  her  eyes  discovered  Esme's  dishevelled 
appearance. 

"  What  ever 's  happened  ?  "  she  asked,  and  put 
out  a  hand  and  caught  her  sister's  arm. 


The  Stronger  Influence  309 

Bainbridge  turned  from  paying  the  driver  and 
followed  them  into  the  house. 

"  Don't  make  a  fuss,"  he  said.     "  She's  upset." 

There  were  tears  in  Esme's  eyes ;  she  looked 
white  and  altogether  unstrung. 

"  There's  been  an  accident  ?  "  Rose  said. 

"  It  came  pretty  near  to  being  a  fatal  accident," 
Jim  threw  in  helpfully.  "  One  of  those  black 
devils  got  hold  of  her.  If  it  hadn't  been  for  Paul 
she'd  be  as  dead  as  mutton  by  now." 

"What?"  Rose  ejaculated. 

"  Paul's  turned  up,"  came  the  laconic  infor- 
mation. "  Turned  up  in  the  nick  of  time  too.  It 
seems  he's  been  a  prisoner  of  war.  Don't  say 
anything  now.  We  are  all  feeling  jumpy.  He's 
coming  over  in  the  morning." 

Rose  gasped  in  her  astonishment.  Her  hus- 
band's jerked  out  sentences,  his  perturbed  and 
bothered  look,  as  much  as  her  sister's  evident 
agitation,  kept  her  from  putting  the  elucidatory 
questions  which  she  longed  to  ask.  She  could 
scarcely  believe  this  startling  news,  so  abruptly 
given ;  it  seemed  to  her  incredible  that  Paul 
Hallam  should  be  alive,  and  coming  there.  Gently 
she  passed  an  arm  about  her  sister's  shoulders  and 
spoke  to  her  soothingly. 

"  You  poor  dear  !  "  was  all  she  said.  "  You 
poor  dear  !  '; 

Mary  came  running  down  the  stairs,  agog  with 


310  The  Stronger  Influence 

excitement,  and  manifestly  curious.  But  at  the 
foot  of  the  stairs  she  halted  abruptly,  and  sur- 
veyed the  group  in  the  hall  in  wide-eyed  amaze. 
Tactfully  she  disregarded  Esme's  tearful  condition 
and  confined  her  attention  to  the  dilapidations  of 
her  attire. 

"  You've  been  in  the  wars,"  she  said.  "  Come 
on  up  to  my  room  ;  I'll  rig  you  out/' 

Jim  Bainbridge,  approving  of  his  daughter's 
handling  of  an  embarrassing  situation,  looked 
after  the  pair  as  they  went  arm  in  arm  up  the 
stairs  ;  then,  in  answer  to  the  question  in  his  wife's 
eyes,  he  followed  her  into  the  sitting-room  and 
entered  into  explanations. 

Rose  took  things  more  calmly  than  he  had 
expected.  The  shock  of  the  news  left  her  be- 
wildered and  curiously  at  a  loss  for  words.  She 
found  some  difficulty  in  collecting  her  ideas. 

"  I  always  said,"  she  remarked  once,  "  that  it 
was  ridiculous  to  swear  so  positively  to  a  man's 
identity  by  the  clothes  he  happened  to  be  wearing." 

And  after  reflection  she  added  simply : 

"  Poor  George  !  " 

Bainbridge's  sympathies  set  strongly  in  the 
same  direction. 

"  That's  how  I  felt  about  it  when  Paul  walked 
into  my  office  yesterday,"  he  observed. 

"  Yesterday  !  "  she  repeated.  "  You  knew  this 
yesterday  ?  Why  didn't  you  tell  me  ?  ' 


The  Stronger  Influence  311 

"  For  obvious  reasons,"  he  answered.  "  I  hoped 
when  Paul  heard  of  the  second  marriage  he'd  see 
the  wisdom  of  clearing  out.  But  he  didn't.  I 
wonder  how  I  would  have  acted  had  it  been 
my  case  ?  Whether,  if  I  had  disappeared  and 
returned  to  find  you  married  again,  I  would  have 
slipped  away  and  left  the  other  fellow  in  posses- 
sion ?  Largely,  of  course,"  he  added  reflectively, 
"  it  would  depend  on  whether  I  wanted  you.  // 
I  had  wanted  you  all  right,  the  other  fellow  would 
have  had  to  quit.  That's  as  plain  as  print  any- 
way. No  doubt  I  gave  Paul  fairly  rotten  advice. 
However  he  didn't  take  it ;  so  there  it  is." 

'  You  are  positively  immoral,"  Rose  exclaimed 
indignantly.  "  There  is  no  question  about  the 
matter  at  all.  They  are  man  and  wife." 

"  I  wasn't  dealing  in  morality  in  offering  my 
advice,"  he  answered,  grinning.  "  I  was  thinking 
of  the  simplest  way  out  of  the  difficulty." 

"  The  path  of  least  resistance — yes,"  she  said. 
"  And  it  didn't  strike  you  that  in  shirking  diffi- 
culties one  makes  others  ?  A  fine  crop  of  criminal 
complications  you  would  have  started.  Besides, 
Paul  isn't  a  man  to  take  advice." 

"  No  ;  he  is  not  to  be  moved  from  his  purpose 
once  his  mind  is  made  up.  Incidentally,  he's 
rather  a  fine  chap." 

"  He  drinks,"  she  said. 

"  I  imagine  he  has  learned  control,"  he  returned 


312  The  Stronger  Influence 

quickly.  "  You  are  a  little  unfair  in  your  judg- 
ment, aren't  you  ?  ' 

"  Perhaps  I  am,"  she  allowed.  "  I  never  liked 
him.  I  resent  his  coming  back  and  upsetting 
everything.  What  a  talk  there'll  be  !  '' 

"  Don't  overlook  the  fact  that  he  saved  us  a 
funeral  in  the  family,"  he  reminded  her.  "  You 
can't  have  it  both  ways.  I  consider  it  was  pro- 
vidential his  being  on  the  spot.  George  stood  to 
lose  in  either  case." 

"  I  hope  he  will  take  your  philosophic  view  of 
the  matter,"  was  all  she  returned.  Then  she 
left  him  to  his  reflections  and  went  away  to  see 
about  a  meal. 


The  Stronger  Influence  XX XV II 

IT  had  been  a  day  of  varied  experiences  of  big 
moments,  fraught  with  terror  and  relief,  joy 
and  sorrow,  inextricably  interwoven.  The  event- 
ful day  was  followed  by  a  night  of  correspondingly 
deep  emotions,  a  night  of  painful  revelation  and 
much  anguish  of  mind  for  Esme,  as  well  as  for 
the  man  who  was  to  learn  from  the  lips  of  the 
woman  he  loved,  and  whom  he  believed  was  his 
wife,  that  she  had  never  been  legally  married  to 
him,  that  her  husband  was  alive,  that  she  and  the 
child,  which  was  his,  were  leaving  him  finally. 

They  talked  late  into  the  night,  sitting  opposite 
to  one  another,  with  a  small  table  between  them 
on  which  Rose  had  placed  two  cups  of  coffee, 
before  she  left  them  alone  together,  and  went 
softly  upstairs  to  take  a  look  at  the  baby,  asleep 
in  its  improvised  cot. 

The  little  house  was  overcrowded  that  night, 
so  that  John  was  forced  to  sling  a  hammock  on 
the  balcony  and  sleep  out  in  the  open  air.  It  was 
also  a  very  quiet  house  ;  a  house  in  which  every 
one  walked  softly  and  spoke  in  whispers  and  went 

313 


314  The  Stronger  Influence 

about  with  concerned  and  anxious  faces.  The 
master  of  the  house  stayed  late  at  his  club,  and 
slipped  in  quietly  on  his  return  and  crept  past  the 
sitting-room  door  and  went  softly  upstairs  to  bed. 

And  the  man  and  the  woman  within  the  room 
talked  on  fragmentally,  heedless  of  everything 
beyond  the  confines  of  those  four  walls  which 
gave  privacy  to  their  interview,  to  the  man's  grief, 
and  the  woman's  unutterable  sympathy  with  his 
sorrow. 

George  Sinclair  sat  forward  in  his  seat,  with  his 
hands  dropped  between  his  knees,  staring  before 
him  with  blurred  unseeing  eyes.  Occasionally  he 
beat  the  knuckles  of  one  clenched  hand  softly  with 
the  palm  of  the  other,  with  an  action  pitiful  to 
watch,  suggesting,  as  it  did,  intense  emotion  hardly 
repressed.  He  did  not  say  much.  The  situation 
had  gone  beyond  words.  He  sat  there,  tense  and 
quiet,  trying  to  grasp  the  fact  that  she  was  not  his 
wife,  never  had  been  his  wife,  that  their  married 
life  had  been  a  sham.  And  now  he  had  to  give 
way.  There  was  no  course  left  to  him  but  to  pass 
out  of  her  life  altogether.  And  he  loved  her, 
worshipped  her.  Life  without  her  would  be 
entirely  blank.  He  could  not  realize  living  with- 
out her.  To  know  that  she  was  in  the  world 
somewhere  and  that  he  must  not  see  her,  speak  to 
her,  touch  her  ever  again  after  to-day.  .  .  . 

The  thought  was  torture.     It  was  also  fantastic- 


The  Stronger  Influence  315 

ally  unreal.  He  felt  like  a  man  in  a  dream,  faced 
by  an  absurdly  impossible  situation,  which  was 
nevertheless  distressing  and  horrible,  which  he 
believed  would  fade  if  he  could  only  wake.  But 
he  could  not  wake  ;  and  the  dream  became  more 
real,  more  terribly  convincing  with  every  passing 
moment. 

Why,  in  the  name  of  reason,  had  he  not  been 
shot  in  France  and  thus  saved  this  refinement  of 
torture  ?  It  would  have  spared  Esme  unnecessary 
suffering  also.  It  seemed  monstrous  that  through 
his  love  for  her  he  should  hurt  her,  that  by  their 
marriage  they  should  have  all  unconsciously 
injured  one  another  grievously.  Wherever  she 
might  be,  however  happy  she  was  in  her  love  for 
Paul  and  for  her  child,  always  there  must  linger 
in  her  mind  a  regret  when  she  thought  of  him 
alone  with  his  memories  of  his  brief  happiness  and 
his  enduring  sorrow. 

"  Don't  reproach  yourself,"  he  said,  once,  look- 
ing up  in  response  to  something  she  said  in  self- 
condemnation,  and  meeting  her  saddened  eyes 
fully.  '  The  trouble  is  none  of  your  making.  I 
don't  see  that  you  are  to  blame  anyway.  I 
worried  you  into  it.  You  know/' — he  leaned 
towards  her  and  took  hold  of  her  hands  where  they 
lay  along  the  table, — "  I  can't  regret  our  marriage, 
Esme.  It's  been  a  wonderful  time.  It's  some- 
thing to  remember  when — when  I've  nothing  else 


316  The  Stronger  Influence 

left  of  you.  If  it  wasn't  that  I  know  you  love 
Paul  better  than  ever  you  loved  me,  I'd  not  give 
you  up.  But  the  law  and  your  happiness  are 
both  on  one  side.  I'm  out  of  the  picture  alto- 
gether." 

She  made  no  reply.  She  felt  that  it  would  not 
be  kindness  to  urge  on  him  then  how  much  she 
cared  for  him.  She  loved  him,  not  as  she  loved 
Paul,  but  with  a  strong  and  tender  affection  that 
would  keep  his  memory  warm  and  vivid  in  hei 
thoughts  always. 

"  I  shall  never  forget  you — the  sweetness  and 
the  dearness  of  you,"  he  added.  "  It's  a  big  blow, 
Esme,  to  be  forced  apart  now.  Dear,  I  don't 
know  how  I'll  stand  it.  ...  No  matter ;  we 
won't  think  of  that  part  of  it.  One  gets  used  to 
most  things,  I  imagine." 

He  was  silent  again  for  a  while.  He  had 
released  her  hands  and  returned  to  his  former  atti- 
tude, and  to  his  action  of  beating  one  hand  upon 
the  other.  Esme  watched  him,  biting  her  lip  to 
stop  its  trembling,  and  with  difficulty  holding  back 
her  tears.  What  could  she  do,  what  could  she 
say,  in  face  of  this  misery  which  she  was  power- 
less to  avert  ? 

Presently  she  rose  from  her  seat,  and  went  to 
him,  and  kneeled  on  the  carpet  beside  him,  and 
put  her  hands  over  his  hands  to  quiet  their  pain- 
ful movement. 


The  Stronger  Influence  317 

"  George,"  she  said  softly,  "  it  stabs  me  to  the 
heart  to  see  you  grieve  so.  What  can  I  say  ? 
You've  been  so  good  to  me.  I  love  you  for  your 
goodness.  I'll  remember  you  with  gratitude  every 
day — every  hour  of  every  day,  so  long  as  I  live. 
My  dear  boy !  my  dear  boy !  I  can't  bear  it 
when  you  look  so  sad." 

She  was  sobbing  now,  sobbing  and  choking  with 
emotion.  He  took  her  face  between  his  hands  and 
smiled  at  her,  with  a  smile  that  was  infinitely 
sadder  than  tears,  and  bent  forward  and  kissed  her 
gently. 

"  Poor,  weary  little  woman  !  "  he  said.  "  That 
white  face,  with  its  tired  eyes,  ought  to  be  on  the 
pillow.  Come  upstairs,  and  let  me  take  a  look  at 
the  baby  before  I  go." 

He  helped  her  on  to  her  feet ;  and,  hand  in 
hand,  softly  and  in  silence,  they  went  upstairs  and 
stood  side  by  side  looking  down  on  the  unconscious 
beauty  of  their  sleeping  child. 

"  She  forms  a  link,"  he  said.  "  When  her  blue 
eyes  look  into  your  eyes,  you'll  remember." 

He  bent  down  and  laid  his  hand  over  the  baby 
hands  and  kissed  the  soft  cheek. 

"  I'll  miss  her,"  he  said  ;  and  straightened  him- 
self and  turned  away  from  the  cot  abruptly. 

Esme  followed  him  to  the  door. 

"  No  ;  don't  come  down.  We'll  part  here.  I 
can  let  myself  out." 


318  The  Stronger  Influence 

He  took  her  by  the  shoulders  and  held  her  a  little 
way  off,  looking  at  her  long  and  earnestly  as  though 
he  wished  to  impress  her  features  on  his  memory 
for  ever. 

"  Some  time  in  the  far  off  future  we  may  meet 
again,"  he  said.  "  God  knows.  Anyhow,  you 
will  live  always  in  my  heart.  Good-bye,  and  God 
bless  you." 

His  hands  slipped  to  the  back  of  her  shoulders, 
drew  her  to  him,  held  her.  She  lifted  her  face  to 
his ;  and  in  the  dimly  lit  room  where  the  baby 
slept,  and  where  the  man  was  to  part  from  both 
wife  and  child,  they  clung  together  and  kissed  for 
the  last  time,  not  as  lovers,  but  solemnly  and 
tenderly,  as  dear  friends  embrace,  knowing  they 
may  never  meet  again.  Then  the  man  went 
swiftly  down  the  stairs  and  let  himself  quietly 
out  of  the  house. 


The  Stronger  Influence  XXXFIII 

SLEEP  was  long  in  coming  to  Esme  that  night. 
She  lay  in  the  little  bed  in  the  room  where, 
as  a  girl,  she  had  slept  soundly  in  the  untroubled 
days  before  love  had  entered  into  her  life,  lay  wide- 
eyed  in  the  hot  stillness,  with  the  heavy  scent  of 
the  oleander  stealing  into  the  room,  perfuming 
the  night,  filling  the  little  garden  and  the  surround- 
ing air  with  its  sweetness,  bringing  back  with  its 
familiar  fragrance  a  rush  of  memories,  shy  sweet 
memories  of  the  days  when  Paul  was  her  lover  and 
she  slept  with  his  letters  beneath  her  pillow  and 
sometimes  dreamed  of  him. 

So  much  had  happened  since  those  care-free 
days  to  change  her,  to  alter  all  her  views  of  life, 
that  the  girl  who  had  slept  there  before  seemed 
almost  a  stranger  to  her.  One  quality  they  shared 
in  common ;  there  was  one  flaming  harmony 
across  their  sky  amid  the  wind-swept  clouds  of  dis- 
content and  passing  griefs  and  early  intolerances, 
love.  The  girl  had  lain  there  and  dreamed  of  love, 
and  felt  love  aglow  in  her  heart ;  the  woman  lay 
there  with  heart  and  brain  filled  with  love — com- 

319 


320  The  Stronger  Influence 

passionate  love,  deep  and  tender  and  protective 
in  quality — for  her  husband,  for  the  man  who 
loved  her  as  a  husband,  and  for  the  small  life 
which  God  had  given  her  to  complete  her  world. 

These  three  lives,  so  intimately  and  closely 
associated  with  her  own,  asserted  each  its  separate 
claim.  Never  could  she  forget,  or  cease  to  think 
kindly  and  with  grateful  heart,  of  the  man  who 
was  the  father  of  her  child.  She  would  love  the 
child  more  tenderly  through  her  undying  affection 
for  George  Sinclair.  The  child  forged  a  link,  as  he 
had  said,  between  them  for  all  time. 

But  above  and  beyond  everything,  like  a  sun 
set  in  the  sky  amid  the  lesser  luminaries,  shone  her 
love  for  Paul  Hallam  ;  a  great  white  flame  of  love 
that  made  the  crown  and  glory  of  her  life. 

As  she  thought  of  Paul,  of  his  struggle  and  his 
suffering,  her  tears  fell  freely.  His  claim  was 
stronger  than  the  other  claims,  his  need  of  her  the 
greater. 

With  the  dawn  her  mind  became  more  tranquil, 
less  feverishly  alert ;  the  curtain  of  formless 
thoughts,  of  futile  striving  to  understand,  hung 
away  from  her  weary  brain;  and  sleep  came  to 
her,  calm  and  peaceful  sleep,  blotting  out  the 
sorrows  and  the  joys  wMch  go  to  the  making  of 
every  life. 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


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